The Exiled One Returns (Being rewritten)
by Pokeballer92
Summary: Ash has been in exile for 5 years after being accused of crimes he didn't commit. After all these years he's been invited to The Decennial Tournament of Legends by Scott and decided it's finally to return to show everyone what 5 years of training can do. Set after The Unova League which had a slightly different outcome.
1. The Invitation

Hello guys, this is the edit/rewrite of this story. I'd really like to hear what you guys think about it and I'm more than happy to take constructive criticism but flaming will be ignored.

All the Poke Speech is being translated because typing "Pi pika chupi." just seems weird to me. This doesn't mean everyone can understand it though, only a few characters can understand Poke speech for example Ash will be able to thanks to Aura. I know Ash using Aura is such a unique concept, right?

So, in conversations unless otherwise stated this is how you can tell what kind of speech is being used.

'- Poké Speech

"- Human speech

 _"- Aura/Telepathy_

Without further ado let the story begin!

* * *

On a secluded island in the very heart of the Orange Archipelago a man was stood on the beach watching as the sun reflected beautifully off the ocean. He stood at just over six foot, had messy raven black hair and had a long scar that trailed from the left side of his upper lip all the way to his right eyebrow. Most of this was hard to see however as his face was shrouded in darkness by the black hooded cloak he was wearing. Several smaller scars littered his hands but were like his face they were covered up this time by a pair of leather fingerless gloves. He had also a Pikachu perched on his right shoulder while a Froslass sat on his left. The man let out a sigh as the waves crashed into the nearby rocks.

"I can't believe it's been over five years since the incident."

'I know; time has flown by. I guess we've just been so busy over the past five years that we've lost track of time.' Pikachu replied.

'Yeah Pikachu is right Ash, these last few years have been hectic. I'm just glad that everything seems to have settled down.' Froslass added.

Ash had to agree with Froslass, there had been so much happening from taking down evil organisations to protecting the habitats around the island he lived on. There had been many a time where Ash had thought that they'd never get this much peace and tranquillity and he was enjoying every moment of it.

"Ash are you okay?" a young girl's voice asked.

Ash turned around and saw his nine-year-old adopted sister Paige. She had short black hair that was tied into two pigtails to prevent people from grabbing hold of it. Her skin was tanned like Ash's and she had ice blue eyes. Like Ash she wore a cloak which hid most of these features as well as a small scar she had gotten shortly before meeting Ash that trailed down her right cheek all the way to her jaw.

"Yeah I'm fine. How about you?"

"As long as you're here I'll always be fine."

Paige took a few steps forward and wrapped her arms around Ash who quickly crouched and returned the embrace, small smiles appeared on their faces as they held each other. The pair were inseparable and while both were haunted by the events that had transpired in the past they were so happy to have been united. Ash then lifted Paige up and smiled softly as he heard her giggle, she then snuggled close to him which reminded Ash of how he met Paige two years ago in Team Galactic's HQ.

* * *

Her parents had been top scientists developing technology for Team Galactic however when they discovered how corrupt their leader truly was they left Team Galactic. They were chased by Team Galactic for well over a year before they were finally captured, Paige had been forced to watch as her mother and father were both killed for their betrayal. She wasn't even given a chance to mourn them as their bodies were burned and she was taken to Team Galactic's HQ. She had struggled in a vain attempt to either escape or at least hurt one of them but they had knocked her out. When she'd woken up she found that she was locked in a dirty cell, every day after that she was given very little food and beaten by the grunts for what her parents had done.

Ash found her a week after her torture had started, he had infiltrated Team Galactic's headquarters and was just finished dealing with the remaining members after defeating the new leaders of the evil organisation. With everyone defeated Ash had been headed towards the exit when he felt a weak aura coming from the prison block. He immediately turned on the spot and sprinted to the prison block hoping to save whoever it was. When he got to the prison block Ash had to force himself not to vomit at the corpses of prisoners in every cell. He then made his way to the last cell where the weak Aura was radiating from and found Paige locked inside.

The sight of the poor girl in the cell enraged Ash and he summoned his Aura to blast the doors off its hinges. He saw the girl jump at the noise and regretted his method of getting inside the cell, he then entered the cell and saw the girl crawl. Knowing that the girl was likely to be afraid of anyone after everything she must have suffered through, he knelt in front of her and smiled softly hoping it would make her trust him.

"Don't worry little girl, my name is Ash and I'm going to get you out of this horrid place."

Paige looked up at Ash through tear filled eyes and with the last of her strength threw herself at Ash and wrapped her arms around him tightly as she sobbed into his shirt. Now that the girl was in the light Ash could get a better look at her and was immediately filled with sorrow and rage due to the condition she was in. He knew that Team Galactic were evil but he couldn't believe that they would stoop so low and be so cruel to a child, she was covered in bruises, very thin presumably from being almost starved and had a long deep gash on her right cheek.

"I can't believe these scumbags would do this to a defenceless little girl." Ash thought.

Ash held the girl tightly and rubbed her back soothingly hoping it would calm the young girl. He knew he had to get her out of this place and get her some medical attention but he first needed to know if her parents or anyone else she knew was alive so he could take her to a hospital near them.

"Hey, is there anyone I can take you to? Family, friends?" Ash asked.

Paige shook her head and her sobbing intensified.

"N-no, my p-p-parents were all I had and Team Galactic k-k-k-killed them."

Ash's heart dropped hearing this, a small child like this had lost her mother and father and was now all alone in the world. He looked down at the girl and saw a lot of himself in her due to them having similar pasts, the main difference being he was twice her age when he lost his mother and everyone he cared about. It was obvious that what had happened here would badly affect her, just as what had happened to him had changed him so much.

"I am so sorry; you shouldn't have gone through such a horrible ordeal. What's your name?"

"Paige" she whimpered.

"Well believe me Paige when I say that I will take care of you from now and I will never leave you."

"You promise." Paige whimpered.

"I promise. Now let's get out of this place."

Paige nodded glad that she would finally escape the hell that she had been trapped in. Ash released his hold on Paige and seeing that the rags she was wearing did nothing to protect her from the cold he removed his cloak which he then wrapped around Paige who clutched the fabric tightly relishing the warmth it provided. Ash pulled Paige to him once more feeling her wrap her arms around and start to cry again. Ash held her tightly as he pulled a Pokéball off his belt and sent out his Gardevoir, the Embrace Pokémon looked sadly at the sobbing girl in Ash's arms and a few tears trickled down her face as she read the girl's mind.

"Let's get out of here."

Gardevoir nodded and placed a hand on Ash's shoulder, in a flash they Teleported away from the base of the now defeated Team Galactic back to the Orange Archipelago. Upon arrival Paige had fallen asleep due to the exhaustion and trauma she had suffered at the hands of Team Galactic. Ash watched the new member of his family and swore to himself that he would never let anything hurt her again.

* * *

Pikachu and Froslass watched the pair with smiles on their faces and they were once again extremely grateful that Paige had come into their lives. At the same time, they felt horrible that she had joined their family because of the tragedy that befell her. They knew that even though Paige and Ash had managed to help each other slowly heal over the past two years they were both far from healed but they were in a much better place than they were two years ago.

Ash and Paige broke their hug and smiled at one another, they decided to sit on the beach and watch the Pokémon train for a while when suddenly Paige spotted something in the sky.

"Hey guys do you see that up there?" Paige asked while pointing up at the sky.

Ash and all the Pokémon looked at where Paige was pointing a saw a Pidgeot flying towards the island. The Pokémon all automatically knew what they had to do and hid in various locations so that the intruder would not see them, at the same time Ash shifted Paige behind him ready to defend her. He had no reason to trust this Pidgeot so for now it was a possible threat and he was not going to take any chances with Paige's safety.

"Everyone, if that Pidgeot turns out to be hostile you know what to do." Ash commanded.

Moments later the flying type landed in front of Ash, he saw a slightly worried look in the Pidgeot's which considering the aura his Pokémon were exuding wasn't surprising. The Pidgeot looked around the area feeling anxious, she could feel the powerful energy surrounding her from all sides and knew that several attacks had all been charged up and were being aimed at her. This didn't surprise her as she'd been warned that this human would not take kindly to unwanted and uninvited visitors so she had been prepared for the worst.

Pidgeot knew she had to be careful with what she said and did in the next few moments, so she slowly approached the two humans and held out a wing towards them hoping that it showed that she was friendly. She watched as the older human studied her briefly and then shook Pidgeot's wing making the flying type let out a sigh of relief as she knew now that she was probably in no danger. The younger human then appeared from behind and shook her wing too which confirmed her safety.

"Welcome to our island, I know that you only have pure intentions however you cannot remain here long. So why are you here?" Ash asked.

'I bring an important message for you.' The Pidgeot replied.

The Pidgeot pulled an envelope out from under some of her feathers and gave it to Ash who looked at the seal on it and could swear he'd seen it somewhere during his travels. Before he could question Pidgeot the flying type powerfully flapped her wings and flew away. Ash stared at the sealed envelope and was genuinely confused, he had always been so careful in hiding ever since the incident and was sure that there was no way someone knew that someone lived on this island. He quickly shook off his confusion and opened the envelope finding a couple of letters and started reading the one on top not noticing all his Pokémon gathering around him in curiosity.

* * *

Dear Thanatos,

You are hereby invited to the Decennial Tournament of Legends, as the name implies it is a tournament that is held every ten years to decided who the will be known as The Legendary Master for the next ten years. The tournament is comprised of one hundred and twenty-eight competitors. Eighty-five of those positions consist of the various Gym Leaders, Elite 4 members and Champions of the six main regions as well as my Frontier Brains. Then the best trainers from each region totalling forty are selected leaving three wild card spots and have been awarded one of these coveted places thanks to your work with the Pokémon Rangers as well as your part in decimating Team Rocket and Team Galactic.

Should you wish to enter you must go to the Pokémon Centre at the Indigo Plateau and present the invitation attached to this letter to Nurse Joy within the next month. The tournament will officially begin in exactly two months giving all competitors some time to do some final training.

Yours Sincerely,

Scott

P.S. I really hope you decide to attend Ash, if you do decide to come inform Nurse Joy that you have been recommended by me and she won't ask for your Pokédex to enter you. That way you can keep your identity a secret.

* * *

Ash stopped reading the letter and saw that all his family had gathered around him and were watching him with fire in their eyes, he already knew that they wanted to battle and prove that they are in indeed the most powerful Pokémon on the planet but he wanted to hear them passionately declare their desire to battle.

"Well everyone you heard what the letter said. So, what do you think, shall we participate in this tournament and show off how much you've or stay here in peace?"

'Fight, fight, fight.' Everyone kept yelling.

Ash grinned as he watched his Pokémon enthusiastically cheering for the chance to display their power, he had to admit that he had missed participating in a competition in front of a stadium of people. The roar of the crowd, the ability to show off what you can do to the world and the chance of fighting the best trainers around still excited Ash. Of course, there was opinion he had yet to hear, the one that to him was the most important. He looked down at Paige who had a similar grin to his on her face.

"How about you Paige? Do you think we should go to this tournament?"

"Yep I think you should compete, so I can watch you kick their butts."

"Well I guess that settles it. Everyone get ready to leave, we're going back to Kanto for a while and we're going to make one hell of an impact!"

Everyone cheered and gladly entered their Pokéballs which they had not been in for a very long time. The only ones who didn't return were Charizard, Froslass and obviously, Pikachu. Ash quickly scooped up the Pokéballs containing the rest of his family and placed them in his backpack. He then picked it up and slung it over his shoulder as he walked towards Charizard, however he stopped when he felt Paige tug on his cloak. He crouched down so he could look her in the eye and saw that she was looking down shyly.

"What's up Paige?"

"Well I'm guessing that since we'll be around other people you'll want to be called Thanatos, right?"

"Yeah, we can't risk anyone making any connections to me, calling me Ash would raise some suspicion especially with a Pikachu on my shoulder so we have to be careful. Why do you ask?"

"Well I've been thinking about it for a while and I want to use a different name too."

"Alright what name do you want to be called while we're at the tournament?"

"I want to be called Nemesis."

Ash was pleasantly surprised and impressed by her choice, he gave a small smirk and nodded showing he approved of the alias she wished to use. The siblings shared a brief hug and then Ash lifted Paige up and placed her onto Charizard's back. Ash then got up behind and held her close so that she wouldn't fall off during the flight. Paige smiled as she felt the comfort of Ash's arms around her and snuggled into his embrace.

"I'm ready."

"Alright Nemesis, let's get going."

"Okay, Charizard let's fly!" Paige yelled.

The dragon fired a powerful Flamethrower into the air and let out a loud roar startling the Pokémon living around their island home, he then shot into the air and headed straight towards the Indigo Plateau. Ash tightened his hold on Paige and felt excited and just eager as everyone else to go and prove that they were no one stronger than their family.

* * *

Notes

Thank you all for reading this chapter, please leave a review below telling me what you liked and what I could improve on. I'm also willing to use any ideas you may have.

What happened to Ash that made him decided to go into exile will be revealed when Ash meets up with Scott as will the Pokémon he has.

Ash will in general be darker as will my OC Paige around other people due to their pasts, however when they are with each other or their Pokémon they won't be.

Readers of the previous version of this story will notice that this is almost identical. That's because I'm happy with this chapter, the changes will come soon.


	2. Making Things Difficult

Hello guys, I want to give a big thank you to FicPrince & Guadalupe . junior . 18 for reviewing chapter 1.

Followers of the original story will notice that not much has changed in this chapter, don't worry the future will hold quite a few surprises.

In conversations unless otherwise stated this is how you can tell what kind of speech is being used.

'- Poké Speech

"- Human speech

 _"- Aura/Telepathy_

Without further ado let the chapter begin!

* * *

As Charizard flew across the ocean separating Kanto and The Orange Archipelago a slightly worrying thought came to Paige, she shuffled slightly in Ash's grip so she could look at him and gain his attention. The movement had the desired effect and Ash turned his gaze to his sister, he saw the worried look on Paige's face and was immediately concerned about her.

"What's up Paige?"

"Ash you know that once we get to the tournament you're going to see **them** at some point. I just want to make sure that you're going to be okay."

Ash smiled at his sisters thoughtfulness and placed a kiss on her forehead as he hugged her.

"Thank you for your concern Paige, I'll admit that it will be hard controlling my anger when I see them but as long as you're by my side I'll be fine."

"I'll always be here you Ash."

"And I'll always be here for you."

Paige smiled and wrapped her arms around Ash who tightened his hold on her. Paige smiled again, relishing the safety and comfort his embrace gave her. A sudden rumble from Charizard made both the siblings turn their attention back to where they were going and saw one of the impressive stadiums where the tournament was going to be held.

"Hey look it's the Indigo Plateau. Charizard land in the forest to the south of the Plateau, we don't want to draw any attention to us. I'd rather go through this tournament almost unnoticed."

Charizard nodded and slowly started to descend as he searched for a suitable place to land, a few minutes later he finally landed in the forest and crouched down allowing Ash and Paige to jump off his back. Ash thanked Charizard for his help and stroked the dragons head, he then quickly recalled the dragon and placed his Pokéball in his backpack with the others. After making sure that his Pokéballs were safe he turned to look at his sister and saw that Paige was holding the Pokéball containing her first very Pokemon.

"Hey, you can let Riolu out if you want, I know he hates staying in his Pokéball."

"Thank you, Riolu come on out."

Paige threw the Pokeball in the air dramatically watching as Riolu burst out of the Pokéball and immediately climbed onto Paige's shoulder, he nuzzled her cheek expressing both his gratitude for being let out of that cramped device and showing his care for her.

" _Hello Mistress. Thank you for letting me out of the Pokéball."_

"Riolu please stop calling me Mistress, I'm your friend."

" _I know that Mistress but out of respect you shall always be my Mistress just as Ash will always be Lucario's Master."_

Ash and Paige sighed as they realised they weren't going to get Riolu and Lucario to stop addressing them like that but that didn't mean they weren't going to keep trying. The pair shrugged their shoulders and then started walking northwards towards the Pokémon Centre so Ash could sign up for the tournament. Ash suddenly stopped prompting Paige to do the same.

"What's wrong?" Paige asked.

"I just wanted to make sure that you remember that now we're at the Indigo Plateau I'm Thanatos."

"Yeah I know Thanatos and you remember I'm Nemesis." Paige replied.

Ash smiled and nodded at his sister and then started walking again with Paige alongside him. While they walked through the forests and fields they looked around trying to see if there was a good area they could train in but they found nothing that would be suitable. It wasn't a disaster since they could go back to their island but Ash would have preferred somewhere a bit closer to the Indigo Plateau so they wouldn't have to worry about travelling back and forth.

* * *

When they got to the edge of the forest before the Pokemon Centre the siblings shared a look and then made sure their hoods were shrouding their faces, they gave each other a quick nod and walked up to the Pokémon Centre. The sliding doors opened and they walked inside making everyone turn their attention to them, the presence of the pair made everyone shudder as they felt the room get a whole lot colder. They looked at the duo who had just arrived wondering who they were and why their presence had such an effect on them.

Ash, Paige and their Pokemon ignored the trainers who hadn't stopped staring at them and approached the desk where Nurse Joy was frantically tapping away on her keyboard. Unlike the trainers Nurse Joy hadn't noticed the pair until they were a meter or so away from her desk. She looked up from her computer and looked the two people walking towards her, she noticed something seemed a different since they had arrived but shrugged off the feeling and smiled at them.

"Hello sir, what can I help you with today?" Nurse Joy said cheerily.

"Good afternoon Nurse Joy, my name is Thanatos. I was invited by Scott to participate in the upcoming tournament as his wildcard entry and I was told that you would sign me up immediately." Ash replied.

The silence that had descended upon the Pokémon Centre was suddenly lifted as everyone inside started gossiping about the two of them, wondering who they were and what some unknown had done to warrant a the wildcard entry from a man as prestigious as Scott. Ash and Paige were annoyed by the noise everyone was making so they sent glares at everyone in the building which immediately made the loud gossiping turn in quiet whispers between the small groups of trainers.

Seeing that their work was done the siblings then turned their attention back to Nurse Joy who was frowning at the behaviour of the two people. She was starting to worry about what these people were capable of but she instantly put a smile back on her face when she saw that they were focusing on her again and took the entry card from Thanatos proving that he was indeed Scott's choice.

"Yes of course Thanatos, it's nice to finally meet Scott's wildcard choice as he was being very secretive about it. Now I'll get you registered immediately as long as you wait in Pokemon Centre."

"Why exactly do I need to wait? You have the proof of my invitation, I was told that that was all that you would need from me."

"Well as a wildcard your sponsor needs to see you to confirm that you are who he chose, you all we know you stole the entry from the actually wildcard so Scott will have to come and identify you. He will also need to discuss a few details of the tournament with you as well."

"That's ridiculous, I am no thief now I suggest you take the proof of my invitation and allow me to leave as I have no interest in chatting with Scott about this tournament. I am here to compete and win."

"Yeah we only came here so that Thanatos could sign up for the tournament. So, we're leaving right now." Paige added.

Ash and Paige turned away from Nurse Joy and started walking towards the front of the Pokémon Centre. Nurse Joy sighed in annoyance, Scott had told her that Thanatos would be difficult but she didn't think he would make things this hard. She started to wonder why Scott had wasted his wildcard slot on this man when there were so many talented young trainers who would jump at the opportunity to converse with Scott.

"I apologise Thanatos but if you do not agree to meet with Scott I shall be forced to decline your entry to the tournament."

This made Ash and Paige stop on the spot, they turned slightly so they could see Nurse Joy and glared at her, they had not come all this way to be messed around with by one of the Nurse Joy clones.

"You can't do that." Ash growled.

"Thanatos is right you can't do that; Scott gave him the invite to enter this tournament."

To Ash and Paige's surprise Nurse Joy had the gall to smirk at them, they let out a low growl as they felt the smugness radiating from her. Nurse Joy watched the pairs stances as they shifted towards a more irritated posture which from what she'd seen so far wasn't that surprising. She did wonder what might have happened though if she had told them that Scott just wanted to meet with him as soon as he arrived and that with the invitation there was no way they could refuse his entry.

"I can and I will, as I said before your sponsor need to identify you and even if that wasn't the case I was given authority by Scott to do this if you refused to meet with him. So, unless you wait here as I said and wait for Scott I will refuse to allow you to enter."

Ash and Paige threw a final glare at Nurse Joy before they both sighed in resignation, they knew that they couldn't win this battle if Ash wanted to participate in the tournament. The pair threw one last glare at the Nurse Joy and the Ash led Paige to the table in the corner so they were as far away from anyone is physically possible. They sat down and with a quick look at everyone they made sure that the other people knew to stay away from them.

"He better be here soon." Ash said.

"Yeah we don't like to be kept waiting." Paige added.

Nurse Joy finally let herself relax and she let out a sigh of relief, she was glad that she had convinced Thanatos to stay without something bad happening. Once she was sure the pair weren't going to leave she picked up the phone and dialled Scott's number. The owner of the Battle Frontier appeared on the screen and smiled at Nurse Joy.

"Hello Nurse Joy."

"Hello Scott, I wanted to inform you that he's here."

"Really?! Thanatos is really there?!" Scott asked in shock.

"Yes, Thanatos is here with what I assume to be his younger sister although right now I cannot confirm that. He didn't want to talk to you but I managed to get him to stay. Now please Scott get here soon, the two of them are scaring some of the other trainers here and their Pikachu, Froslass and Riolu aren't helping."

"Okay I'll be there in a few minutes."

"Thank you Scott."

Nurse Joy smiled gratefully at Scott knowing that the pair would be gone soon and then hung up the phone, she cast a glance at the duo and saw that they had both been facing her way presumeably overhearing her conversation with Scott. She was briefly worried that they would figure out that she had lied to them and would leave but it seemed as though they weren't going anywhere. Nurse Joy once again sighed in relief and just hoped that Scott would be here soon.

Back in Scott's office the large man was wasting no time and after cancelling some meetings he immediately left his office in the Indigo Plateau and headed straight to the Pokémon Centre. He honestly hadn't expected Ash to accept his invitation to the tournament considering the young man had been residing on that island for the past year without leaving for more than a few days.

This left him a bit unprepared for Ash, he had been thinking of telling him at least a little about what had happened over the past five years but he wasn't sure how much he should tell Ash considering he had no idea how much different this Ash would be to the one he knew five years ago. He decided that he'd wait and see what Ash was like before choosing what to tell him

* * *

Meanwhile in the Pokémon Centre Ash and Paige were starting to lose their patience, they had been sat in the Pokémon Centre for well over half an hour with literally nothing to do except sit there and wait, for the entire time the trainers had been staring at them while whispering. Despite this Ash and Paige had ignored the stares and whispers instead focussing on one another and their Pokémon, the sound of the sliding doors opening made them look to the entrance hoping to see Scott but they only saw another group of trainers that walked in and stared at the pair. This was the last straw for Ash who slammed his fist down on table angrily which made everyone look away fearfully which improved Ash and Paige's mood slightly but they were still getting irritated at waiting for Scott.

"This is getting really annoyed, at this rate I'll break this table in two." Ash grumbled.

"I know what you mean, we didn't come here to sit around and wait for Scott to waddle his fat ass here." Paige murmured.

Paige's comment made Froslass, Pikachu and Riolu snicker, they tried to suppress their laughter but were unable and burst out laughing. Ash and Paige grinned at one another and they joined in with their Pokémon, the shift in behaviour gained the attention of some of the trainers however they looked away quickly once the siblings glared at them. The doors to the Pokémon Centre opened and a large man wearing a Hawaiian shirt and sunglasses walked inside, Paige was the first one to spot Scott and nudged Ash to get his attention.

"Hey Thanatos, Scott's here."

"I was wondering what was making the ground shake."

Paige, Pikachu, Froslass and Riolu all let out a small chuckle which this time they managed to suppress. They watched as Scott walked up to the main desk immediately gaining Nurse Joy's attention. Nurse Joy quickly moved her gaze from Scott to the corner of the room, Scott followed her line of sight and saw two cloaked figures with a Pikachu, Froslass and Riolu sitting at a table. He noticed that both the people seemed to be watching him intently although with so much of their faces shrouded by their hoods it was hard to tell.

"Hello Nurse Joy, thank you so much you did an excellent job in keeping him here."

"No need to thank me Scott, just be careful they seem dangerous to me."

Scott could see why Nurse Joy would say that due to the harsh glares the five of them had started to throw at anyone who went remotely near them. It was obvious that they didn't want to be disturbed but the trainers here didn't seem to understand that. Regardless of the way the pair were behaving Scott knew that unless you meant harm they weren't going to hurt anyone.

"I appreciate your concern Nurse Joy but trust me I'll be fine don't worry."

"Okay Scott, well I just hope that all the effort you're putting into this man is worth it."

"Trust me it will be, farewell."

Nurse Joy gave Scott a small smile and then the larger man walked over to the corner the two cloaked figures were sitting in. He heard many of the people in the Pokémon Centre gasp in shock as they watched Scott walked towards the terrifying pair. They couldn't believe that the man would walk over to them so confidently. Scott came to a stop at the table and smiled at the two of them not surprised that neither of them replied with a smile of their own.

"Hello Thanatos, it's been a while. Who's this with you?"

"It has been a long time indeed and if you must know this is my sister Nemesis. Now I'd rather continue this conversation in private rather than in the middle of the Pokémon Centre."

"I agree Thanatos, follow me we can have our discussion in my office."

Ash and Paige nodded and followed Scott out of the Pokémon Centre, all the trainers inside the Pokémon Centre letting out a sigh of relief that the two terrifying strangers had left.

* * *

A few minutes later Scott, Ash and Paige entered the main HQ in the Indigo Plateau, as they walked through the halls Ash and Paige heard people whispering to each other about the two cloaked figures following Scott. They decided to tune the people out and just focussed on following Scott to his office, finally Scott came to a stop at a door, he pulled out his keys and opened the door. Ash and Paige walked into the room and Scott quickly locked the door behind them. The three of them then took a seat at Scott's desk, Ash and Paige quickly glanced around the room and then stared at Scott.

"You've got a pretty fancy office Scott, now I don't have time for any chit chat so you better explain how you knew that Thanatos is the name I've been going by and how you found me."

"Well to be honest finding you was down to sheer dumb luck, hell at first I didn't even know it was you since everyone thought you were dead. By the way how did you manage to fake your death so convincingly?"

"Answer my questions first and then maybe I'll answer yours."

"Very well, I'd been hearing over the past few years about a man named Thanatos working with the Pokémon Rangers and being responsible for the destruction of Team Rocket and Team Galactic. I was interested to learn more the guy doing so much good for the world, you know me I like finding a good challenge for the Battle Frontier and thought I'd found my guy. So, I went about learning more about Thanatos and as I got more and more information about everything you had done I started to get suspicious and when I found out that you always carried a Pikachu on your shoulder well that was all the proof I needed."

"That doesn't explain how you found us, that island is secluded in the heart of The Orange Archipelago and no one has been near that island in the year we've been there so how did you know I lived there?"

"Well do you remember four months ago when those poachers went after that family of Lapras?"

Ash and Paige gave a nod as they did indeed remember that day vividly, both had been disgusted with the vile humans who had captured those poor innocent Lapras. When they arrived on the scene they had been greeted by the horrifying sight of all those Lapras cruelly trapped in an incredibly small cage. The Lapras had been quickly freed and then Ash had turned his attention to the poachers who were punished for their actions, once Ash was through with them the poachers were dragged to prison where they would be staying for a long time. Paige could still see the look of relief on Ash's face when he found his old Lapras safe and sound.

"Yeah, we remember that horrible event, why do you ask?" Paige replied.

"Well I'd been tracking those poachers for a couple of months, when we found that they had stopped on the island near the Lapras I sent my men to capture the despicable poachers. It only took my men a couple of hours to get to the island but by the time my men finally got there the poachers had already been dealt with. I guessed that considering how quickly the situation had been handled that it must have been you and that you must live nearby so I sent dozens of flying Pokémon out to every island on in the area and after four months of searching I finally found you."

Ash internally cursed himself for being so careless and allowing himself to be found so easily but he had been so sure that no one would be able to track him down especially considering he was officially dead. He knew that he'd have to be more cautious in the future, he couldn't afford to be so sloppy again for Paige's sake. He started to wonder if he could use a certain Legendary to help shroud the island from the world.

" _I can do that Ash."_ a feminine voice replied.

" _Thank you, my friend."_

Ash and Paige looked at Scott waiting for him to give some kind of explanation for why he had been so desperate to talk to Ash but he appeared to be deep in thought. The prolonged silence was annoying Paige and Ash who really didn't want to be in this room any longer than necessary. Finally, it got too much for Paige and she decided to ask the question that she and Ash wanted the answer to.

"So, Scott why were you so desperate to talk to my brother? You basically forced us to come here so it must be important."

"Well there's a meeting tomorrow with the Champion, Elite 4 and Gym Leaders of Kanto and I want your brother to accompany me so I can introduce him to them. Many of them have heard of Thanatos and want to meet him."

"Not interested, Paige and I have far more important things to do." Ash said dismissively.

Scott was now the one getting annoyed by how Ash was acting, he hadn't expected Ash to make things so difficult for him. After a few moments thought an idea popped into his head, he knew what he was about to do was low but he was willing to do whatever it took to get Ash to meet these people and hopefully try and bring back the Ash he used to know.

"Ash you have to realise that I am breaking a lot of rules by allowing you to participate in this tournament with a false identity. All I ask in payment is that you attend some meetings and sit in the V.I.P box during the first couple of rounds."

While Ash remained calm at Scott's blatant use of blackmail Paige growled in annoyance that this man would stoop so low. Her opinion of Scott was dropping rapidly as he knew exactly how to get her brother to agree to this and she didn't like seeing someone manipulate him. She was about to get up and yell at the large man but was stopped by Ash gently holding her arm.

"It's okay." Ash murmured.

"Alright Ash but if he pulls this kind of crap again he's not getting away with it. I don't like seeing people treat you like this." Paige whispered back.

"I know and I promise if he tries this again you can rip him a new one."

Paige grinned at Ash, ever since they'd met he had always looked out for her and she just wanted to have a chance to look out for him so she was happy that he'd let her stand up for him.

"Alright Scott, I guess I owe you for allowing me to participate as Thanatos and I don't like being in someone's debt so I'll attend your meetings and sit the V.I.P box. I don't know why you want me there so badly though."

"That's for me to know." Scott replied with a smirk on his face.

"Now wait just a second, Ash doesn't go anywhere without us." Paige declared

Riolu, Pikachu and Froslass all nodded in agreement with Paige's statement, they were family and they stuck together no matter what.

"I-I don't know if I can arrange that. Some of the meeting spots don't allow children and almost all of them refuse to let Pokémon inside."

"Well then I guess that I'm not going to your damn meetings, you want one of us you have to take all of us." Ash replied.

The siblings were satisfied to see that they had cleared caught Scott off guard, they watched as Scott appeared to be deep in thought obviously thinking over what they'd said. They knew that they were making things difficult for Scott but what they said was true they stuck together no matter what. After a few minutes of internal debate Scott let out a frustrated sigh and reluctantly nodded, he wasn't sure how he was going to pull it off but if it got Ash to come meet the others he'd do it.

"Fine, fine I'll pull some strings and arrange it so that Paige, Pikachu, Riolu and Froslass can come in with us, but no one else can come with you."

Ash and Paige gave each other a small victorious grin; they weren't sure why Scott was so desperate for Ash to go to these meetings but they didn't really care. They're here for one reason and that is to win this tournament. After that they'd go home and only spend time with those important to them.

"Good, now that that is settled, if you'll excuse us we have to head back home." Ash said.

Scott watched as Ash and Paige got up to leave, he quickly reached out and grabbed Ash's arm making him turn around and send a glare at Scott that sent a shiver down the man's spine. He never thought the Ash he knew could have such a terrifying look on his face but then this isn't the Ash he knew. He quickly withdrew his hold on Ash not wanting to anger the man any more

"Wait Ash, there's no need for you to go back to your island home. I have a secluded home that you can stay in, it's a couple of miles away from here and has a large field, some indoor training facilities as well as a large pool that you can use to prepare for the tournament."

"Okay Scott what's the catch? You must want something in exchange."

"I want to know what really happened five years ago."

"You know what happened, the news gave everyone a very clear message of what happened." Ash growled.

"I don't want to hear what the news said I want to know what really happened."

"Fine, I'll tell you but you will not interrupt me at any point. Do you understand?"

"Yes, I do."

"Alright."

Ash let out a shaky breath, it was still hard for him to think about the day that his life fell apart let alone talk about it. He suddenly felt Paige wrap her arms around him while Froslass and Pikachu nuzzled his face. Ash smiled softly as he felt his family comfort him, he gave them all a quick hug before turning his attention back to Scott.

"It all began after I came back Unova…"

* * *

Notes

Thank you all for reading this chapter, please leave a review below telling me what you liked and what I could improve on. I'm also willing to use any ideas you may have.

Like Chapter 1 this is mostly unchanged, mainly a few sentences have been rewritten and some small parts added.


	3. The Past Revealed

Hello guys, thank you for all the support thus far. I hope you'll continue to enjoy this story.

In conversations unless otherwise stated this is how you can tell what kind of speech is being used.

'- Poké Speech

"- Human speech

 _"- Aura/Telepathy_

Without further ado let the chapter begin!

* * *

The Unova League had gone far better than Ash expected, admittedly he had trained harder than ever but he had still expected to struggle against the other trainers. However, with no Tobias and his team of Legendary Pokémon in Ash's way no one was strong enough to compete with Ash and he was able to win his first regional League. He tried his best against the Unova Elite 4 but only managed to defeat the first member, still it was a massive improvement and both Ash and Pikachu were in high spirits.

They were walking from Viridian City to Pallet Town reminiscing about everything that had happened during their adventure in Unova happily thinking about the great times they'd had in Unova. The success in Unova was being them anxious to head on their next adventure and go one step further, their dreams of being the best around no longer seeming so insurmountable.

"Well Pikachu, I think our journey through Unova was pretty successful."

'Yeah we finally got what we deserved and won a league.'

"Yep, now I say we rest up for a month or two and get some training in, then we head to Kalos, I think we've got a real chance at beating the Elite 4 and challenging the Champion of Kalos. Does that sound good to you?"

Pikachu nodded and nuzzled Ash's cheek which made Ash smile, he scratched behind Pikachu's ear making the mouse let out a soft sigh. As much as they both enjoyed travelling and battling other trainers they wanted to take a break after the intense battles they'd had in Unova.

"Glad you agree. I think we should pick up the speed otherwise we'll be walking all day so Pikachu how about we fly the rest of the way home?"

'Sounds like a great idea!'

"Alright than, Charizard I choose you."

The dragon burst out of his Pokéball and shot a playful Flamethrower at Ash who by now was ready for it and leapt out of the way. Ash then walked back to Charizard and stroked the dragon' neck, he'd missed the faithful fire type and was overjoyed that he'd had a chance to reunite with him in Unova. He had to admit that he was surprised that the dragon had chosen to stay with him rather than return to the valley.

"Hey Charizard could you give us a ride back to Pallet?"

Charizard nodded and picked Ash up, he placed his trainer on his back and then flew into the air straight towards Pallet Town. The trio were excited to get home so they could see their friends and family and have some well-deserved rest.

* * *

Meanwhile in Pallet Town all of Ash's travel companions from his previous journeys had gathered at Professor Oak's Lab. They had all worked together to prepare a massive surprise party for Ash to celebrate his incredible performance in the Unova League and were now waiting for him to arrive. They were all sat in the lounge, watching the highlight from the Unova League when the screen suddenly cut to a news reporter.

"We interrupt this broadcast of the highlights of the Unova League for this breaking news story. Viridian City in flames! Moments ago, Viridian City was attacked by a man riding a Charizard. Streams of flames from the Charizard and bolts of electricity from the Pikachu on the man's shoulder have destroyed most the city."

Everyone looked at one another briefly considering the idea that it had been Ash but then immediately dismissing the idea, there was no way the innocent boy they knew was capable of something like that. If anything, he'd be there helping people and trying to stop the attacker.

"Many people have been injured by the attack, some in critical condition however so far there have been no casualties. We have video footage of the attack, warning this will contain graphic images."

The video began as the first attacks were launched at the buildings, screams of terror almost drowning out the explosions being created by the attacks. The camera zoomed in on the person riding the Charizard and everyone's eyes widened in shock. The face was shrouded but the hat, clothes, backpack even the way the Pikachu stood on the man's shoulder pointed to only person… Ash.

"It can't be." Dawn and Misty gasped.

"It is." Gary stated.

"Early reports suggest that the prime suspect is Ash Ketchum, he was last seen flying towards Pallet Town so if you see him inform the authorities immediately. Police have been dispatched from all surrounding areas and are currently on their way to Pallet Town."

While everyone was still trying to process the information, the booming sounds of a series of explosions made everyone rush out of the Lab and look for where the noises came from. Horrified expression appeared on their faces as they realised that the explosion had come from the Ketchum home. They immediately started running towards the Ketchum home to check on Delia, hoping that she was safe.

Far above them Ash had heard the seen the explosion as it happened and he was panicking about his mother.

"That's my house, Charizard we need to get there now!"

Charizard nodded and shot full speed to Ash's house, he landed outside the burning building and Ash on instinct jumped off the dragon's back and ran towards the house. He was suddenly stopped by a three-clawed hand grabbing his arm. Ash wrenched his arm trying to get free so he could rescue his mother but Charizard grip was too strong for him.

"Charizard let me go, my mother's in there Charizard I can't leave her to burn to death."

The dragon replied by pointing to himself and then the house, he released his hold on Ash's arm and then charging into the house, he desperately looked around the burning ground floor for any sign of Ash's mother but found nothing. He then heard coughing coming from upstairs and burst through the ceiling, he immediately spotted Delia on the floor and picked her up not noticing all her injuries. He then shot a Dragon Pulse at the wall blowing a hole through it and letting him fly out of the house and land in front of Ash. Charizard placed Delia gently on the ground and watched as his trainer fell to his knees, tears filling the boy's eyes as he looked at his badly wounded mother. He wrapped his arms around her and felt her blood dripping onto his arms.

"No, Arceus no. Mum, mum can you hear me?"

Delia's eyes opened and despite the pain she was in she smiled at her son, she'd been hoping she'd get to see him one last time. With what little strength she had left Delia placed her hand on Ash's face and wiped away his tears.

"Ash, honey I'm dying."

"No, no you're not mum. You'll be fine, I'll get you to a hospital and…"

"We both know that I'd never survive moving. Ash it's over for me, please just promise me that you'll stay safe."

"Who did this to you? Who's responsible?"

"It was Team Rocket, they said something about getting rid of you for good. I tried to stop them but they attacked me."

"They'll pay for this; I swear they'll pay."

"Don't let darkness consume you honey, the desire for vengeance can change a person. Remember who you are, remember that I love you and that I'm so proud of you."

"I love you too mum."

Delia gave Ash a final small smile before letting out her last breath, her hand slipping away from Ash's face. Ash watched his mother's eyes close for one last time and tears flowed down his cheeks as he clutched onto her dead body. Pikachu and Charizard watched their trainer mourning and let out a few tears of their own.

"I promise that Team Rocket will pay for this."

Ash was so focussed on his now deceased mother that he didn't hear the footsteps of his friends behind him, the group looked at Ash in horror as they saw the lifeless form of Delia in his arms. With no one else in sight, the blood covering Ash's clothes and the images they had just seen on the television it led them all to one conclusion.

"Ash how could you do this?" Professor Oak asked.

"Was destroying Viridian City not enough for you?" Gary added.

"What the hell has gotten into you? Have you gone insane?" Tracey yelled.

Ash finally tore his gaze away from his mother and noticed that his friends were stood behind him. He felt his spirit lift for a moment until he processed what they said, he then looked at his friends in complete bemusement, he had no clue what they were talking about and wondered why they were saying these things.

"I don't know what you're all talking about." Ash whimpered.

"Stop playing innocent Ash, there's video's all over the news showing you destroying Viridian City. There's images of children and Pokémon laying injured in the streets all thanks to you and now we find you with your mother dead in your arms with only your Charizard and Pikachu nearby."

"You can't be serious, you don't honestly think I'd destroy Viridian City and murder my mother, do you?"

Ash looked at all his so-called friends in shock, he gazed at each of them individually and saw that most of them were glaring at him while some were crying and avoiding his gaze. At that moment, he knew that they did indeed believe that he's guilty of the horrific crimes they described.

"You all do don't you? You actually think I'm capable of committing crimes like that. I-I can't believe it." Ash said in disbelief.

"Ash if you give yourself up maybe things won't be so bad." Brock suggested.

The young man shook his head at Brock and then hugged his mother tightly, he looked down at her peaceful face and kissed her forehead.

"I'm sorry mum, I have to go." Ash whispered as he gently placed his mother on the ground.

"You're not going anywhere Ketchum; you're going to pay for what you've done." Gary said.

Most of Ash's now former friends took a step closer to him all intent on making sure he was going nowhere, Pikachu and Charizard immediately placed themselves between Ash and his former friends. Electricity was sparking off Pikachu while the flame on Charizard's tail grew more intense.

'You're not going to do anything to Ash. If you come any closer you're all taking a Thunderbolt from me!' Pikachu yelled.

'And a Flamethrower from me.' Charizard added.

"Thank you, Pikachu and you too Charizard. Let's head back to the corral and see if any of the others believe me."

Before Ash's now former friends could do anything to stop him, Ash jumped onto Charizard's back and they flew to Professor Oak's Lab hopeful that they would have allies there. They landed in the corral and all of Ash's Pokémon quicker surrounded them. Ash was distraught to see how many of his Pokémon were glaring at him, he knew he didn't have long so he squashed down those feelings so he could say what he needed to.

"Okay everyone I'm assuming you all saw the news report so if you think I'm innocent get your Pokéball and bring it to me so we can leave, the rest of you can go to hell."

Ash was heartbroken when only eight Pokémon retrieved their Pokéballs and gave them to him, those eight were Bulbasaur, Bayleef, Donphan, Scraggy, Totodile, Infernape, Sceptile, Snorlax and Swellow. The loyal Pokémon stood alongside Pikachu and Charizard protectively in front of Ash, glaring at the Pokémon who didn't believe in their trainer who had done so much for all of them.

"Thank you, for believing in me." Ash said as he briefly hugged his loyal Pokémon.

Ash was startled by the sound of sirens in the distance, he quickly returned his loyal Pokémon apart from Charizard and Pikachu and then climbed on to the dragon's back. Charizard knew there was no time to wait for Ash's command so he flew away in the opposite direction of where the sirens were wailing. Ash stayed silent with tears trailing down his face while Charizard flew them to safety, he had no idea where the dragon was taking him and he couldn't bring himself to care. All he could think about was his mother's last words and the looks on the faces of his so-called friends. Ash's eyes suddenly grew dark and cold as he muttered a sentence.

"Ash Ketchum is dead."

* * *

Paige was hugging Ash tightly as her brother finished the story, she knew that this had been hard for him to do and was very proud that he had managed to tell the story without losing control of his emotions. Ash looked down at Paige and was grateful for her presence, he knew that without her here he wouldn't have been able to tell that story.

"So, everyone thought I was guilty of murdering my own mother as well as the destruction of Viridian City. So, let's just leave it at that." Ash snapped.

Scott was in total shock; he hadn't heard everything that had happened on that day and he'd had no idea that things had been that bad. He had heard bits and pieces here and there but nothing he heard came close to the truth.

"I'm sorry about what happened that day Ash, you didn't deserve that at all. I think there's something you need to know though."

This peaked both Paige and Ash's curiosity and they focussed on Scott.

"Okay I'll bite, what do I need to know?"

"Well after the event five years ago I started looking for anything to prove your innocence, I knew that there was no way you'd destroy a city or kill your mother. The problem was that the video footage made you the top suspect, thanks to how the person who did that was dressed, as well as the Pokémon he used. So, I've been compiling evidence over the past five years and I've found that it wasn't just Team Rocket who were involved in framing there was also..."

"Team Magma, Team Aqua, Team Galactic and Team Plasma." Ash interrupted.

"How do you..." Scott started in shock.

"Know that? Simple I was the one who took down Team Rocket, I looked through their computers and saw video calls between the leaders of every faction discussing how to get rid of me. That's why I went after Galactic next, they were easy to pick off, then I met Paige and I knew it was time to stop risking my life for a world that hates me so we settled down on the island."

"Wait if you've had access to those videos why didn't you take the recordings to the police? All the charges made against you would be dropped immediately and you'd be free to go where you want."

"That's the thing though Scott I have everything I want on our island in the Orange Archipelago, seriously there's nothing in the outside world that I want. There was and still is no reason for me to come back and prove that I'm not dead and that I'm innocent of the crimes that were committed five years ago. All that would achieve is having the media barrage me with questions about my mother's death, my innocence, how I'm still alive and any other crap they come up with. It was much easier for me to just fake my death and then go far away from everyone else with Paige."

"Listen Ash not everyone turned against you, there are a few people helping me, people who didn't believe you were guilty of what happened five years ago."

"Bullshit!" Ash yelled then looked guiltily at Paige.

"Sorry Paige."

"No problem, I was going to say something similar if you didn't."

"It's true Ash, I swear." Scott pleaded.

"To be honest it doesn't even matter if some people did care. I told you I faked my death for a reason, I didn't want to be found by anyone and I still don't." Ash replied.

"Yeah like Ash said we don't want to reveal that we're alive since we have no interest in what happens in the world, we are a family comprised of those who we trust and that's how we like it." Paige added.

"Well said Paige. Listen Scott I came to this tournament to win it and then go home, I have no intention of staying here after the tournament, there's not going to be some fairy-tale happy feel good moment where I reunite with those treacherous scumbags, it's just going to be me winning and then leaving for good."

"Please Ash reconsider this, there are some people who really care about you, people who searched for months hoping to find you and were heartbroken when you were pronounced dead."

"I seriously doubt that considering that nobody came out in my defence in the weeks following the death of my mother."

"Yeah if they were cared so much about Ash where were they when he needed them most?"

Scott could see that he wasn't getting anywhere with Ash or his sister but he was desperate for Ash to see that there were people who legitimately cared about him.

"Some of them were away on special training, some were dealing with threats from various evil organisations and some people just weren't interviewed. Please Ash just think about this, there are some people who really care about you, people who would be overjoyed to hear that you're alive. We can talk to the police and find the evidence we need to clear your name, just please don't leave these people thinking you're dead."

Paige was getting seriously pissed off with the way Scott was not listening to what they were saying and how he kept trying to manipulate Ash, she stood up and slammed her hands down on Scott's desk making the larger man jump.

"This conversation is over Scott! We've done more than enough to earn your private home for the duration of this tournament. So, shut up and show us where it is!" Paige snarled.

Scott was legitimately terrified of Ash's sister, the glare she was throwing at him as well at the glares from Froslass, Pikachu and Riolu were clearly telling him to back off. He turned his gaze from Paige to Ash, still really wanted to continue trying to convince Ash to reunite with those who cared about him but he could see that Paige was going to do everything she could to make sure that that wasn't going to happen. After a moment's thought Scott decided that Paige was right, this conversation was over for now, there was a danger that if he pushed Ash too hard he could do a lot more harm than good.

"Okay, okay, you're right Paige, you've answered more than enough questions. I'll take you to the place now."

Scott got up from his desk and opened the door of his office, he left the room quickly followed by Ash and Paige. While they walked through the corridors Ash looked down at Paige and pulled her close to him, she immediately wrapped her arms around Ash and hugged him tightly.

"Thanks Nemesis, it seems that despite everything, Scott seems to know what to say to try and manipulate me." Ash whispered.

"Don't mention it, we stick up for each other and I know you'd do the exact same thing for me. So that means that no one messes with my brother."

"I'm really glad I have you with me."

"Me too."

A smile appeared on Scott's face as he heard the siblings interact, it was nice to hear that the old Ash was still in there. The only problem was it seemed that the old Ash he knew only appeared for Paige, and based upon what he seen so far no one else was getting close to him. He wasn't sure how he was going to get Ash to open up to others since his original plan of trying to convince Ash to talk to those who were helping to clear his name had been blown apart. All he could do for now until he came up with another plan was bring Ash and Paige to meetings and hope that maybe someone will be able to get through to them.

"I'll come up with something, I have to." Scott thought.

A few minutes later, the trio walked out of the building and saw that a car was parked outside waiting for them, Ash opened one of the back doors and sat down with Paige next to him, he was waiting for a driver to come out when he saw Scott get behind the steering wheel. His eyes widened as he remembered his previous experiences in a car that Scott was driving.

"Wait you're driving us home?" Ash fearfully asked.

"Yep, we'll be there in no time."

Ash and Pikachu paled at the prospect of being in a car driven by Scott, Pikachu scrambled into Ash's cloak hoping that it would be a slightly safer place. Ash ignored the mouse's actions and immediately put on his seatbelt, he then put Paige's on as well and grabbed hold of her hand. The girl looked at Ash in confusion wondering why he had to frantically put on her seatbelt and had a death grip on her hand.

"Scott drives like a lunatic, trust me you need all the safety you can get when he's behind the wheel."

Paige glanced at Riolu, both thinking that Ash was just overreacting so they decided not to take Ash's advice and sat in the car casually a choice they will both regret.

* * *

Notes

Thank you all for reading this chapter, please leave a review below telling me what you liked and what I could improve on. I'm also willing to use any ideas you may have.

Once again there are minimal changes to this chapter, things will start to change more when other characters appear.


	4. The End Of A Long Day

Hello guys, thank you for all the support thus far. I hope you'll continue to enjoy this story.

In conversations unless otherwise stated this is how you can tell what kind of speech is being used.

'- Poké Speech

"- Human speech

 _"- Aura/Telepathy_

Without further ado let the chapter begin!

* * *

A few minutes after leaving the Indigo League, Scott slammed on the brakes hard, his car coming to a screeching stop outside of the secluded home he was offering to Ash and Paige. He looked back at his passengers and saw that Paige and Riolu were gripping on to Ash with looks of pure terror on their face, the sight made him burst out laughing which snapped Paige out of it. She released her bone breaking hold on Ash and glared at Scott who was finding this way too funny in her opinion.

"Holy shit I thought Ash was kidding about how bad your driving was but he was right you can't drive for shit. How the hell did he pass his damn driving test?"

"Honestly Paige I have no idea and I think he's actually gotten worse since I was last in a car with him."

"You two just don't know how to have fun." Scott stated cheerfully.

Ash shook his head and got out of the car, thankful to feel the ground beneath him. Paige was feeling a bit more dramatic and after getting out of the car she threw herself to the ground.

"Land! Solid land!

Ash chuckled at Paige's movie reference, he turned his attention to Scott who was watching the pair looked totally confused. A sigh of both relief and disappointment escaped Ash as he realised that the reference had flown straight over Scott's head.

"That is the last time I'm getting into car that you're driving again Scott."

"Same goes for me." Paige quickly added.

Scott shrugged his shoulders and tossed a set of keys to Ash.

"It's your loss, well I'll be here tomorrow at ten in the morning to pick you up for the meeting so make sure you're ready to leave."

"Fine." The siblings replied.

Scott gave the siblings a wave and then his tyres screeched as his rocketed down the road leaving Ash and Paige wondering how he had not killed himself by now. They looked at one another and then at the house Scott had allowed them to use, it looked small but the inside didn't really matter since they spent very little time indoors anyway. As long as the training areas were as good as Scott had said that's all that mattered. They walked up to the front door and Ash put the key in the lock, with a quick turn the door was unlocked and the sibling walked inside. Ash placed his backpack on the nearest table and took out all the Pokéballs containing his family, he then walked out the backdoor into the huge training area.

"Alright everyone come on out."

The Pokémon all appeared in the room and looked around the building they were in wondering why they were here, they'd expected to be either be back home or in the middle of a forest.

"Hello everyone, Scott has given us this house to use for the duration of the tournament. It has great training facilities and it is really isolated so we won't be disturbed by anyone. Now starting tomorrow we're going to train harder than ever, we have a tournament to prepare for!"

Everyone let out an excited cheer which brought a smile to Ash and Paige's faces, it had been a long time since they'd heard the Pokémon cheered so passionately. Ash knew they had missed battling and if he was being honest with himself he had done as well so this tournament had come along at a perfect time.

Ash looked at all his Pokémon and was grateful to have so many loyal Pokémon. In front of him were those who had believed him when no else did: Charizard, Ivysaur, Meganium, Feraligatr, Donphan, Snorlax, Sceptile, Infernape, Scrafty and Swellow. To the left were the ones he had known but released or left in training that had come and found him: Gengar, Blastoise, Gliscor, Tyranitar and Pidgeot. Finally, he looked to the right where the Pokémon he had met since the betrayal five years ago were stood: Hydreigon, Gardevoir, Lucario, Ampharos, Sylveon, Vaporeon, Hitmontop, Reuniclus and Cinccino.

Suddenly Ash sensed both legendary Pokémon who had decided to stay with him return from their visits to their family and friends, in the blink of an eye the pair had teleported amongst the rest of the family. They levitated over to Ash and floated in front of him. He smiled warmly at the two, glad to see them again and hugged them making both legendries sigh in content, the two of them returned the hug and then went to Paige and embraced her.

"So, did you two have fun?" Ash asked.

" _I certainly did, it was nice to see the Pokémon living in the forest again, it's so peaceful there ever since the… incident with me eight years ago the forest has in general been left alone."_

"What happened back then wasn't your fault."

" _I know; I still feel guilty about though. Enough about me, how was your trip." She asked the other Pokémon._

" _It went well, the people and Pokémon are thriving thanks to you. I also made them a couple of diamonds just to make sure they never have to worry about money."_

"I'm glad that you both enjoyed yourselves. You should take a look around this place, we're going to be staying for a long time."

Both Pokémon nodded and then flew back over to the rest of Ash's Pokémon, they had enjoyed seeing their old family and friends but they knew that their true home was here. Ash and Paige saw the Pokémon enjoying themselves and decided to head inside while the legendries got reacquainted with the other Pokémon. An hour or so later the legendries came inside and then settled down on an empty chair. Ash and Paige watched as the two quickly fell to sleep, the reunion with the family had clearly wiped them out.

"They're so cute." Paige whispered.

"They are. Come on it's been a long day let's get some rest."

"You're right Ash, goodnight."

"Goodnight Paige."

The siblings went into their rooms and got changed, they got into their beds and both started trying to sleep. Ash struggled to fall to sleep due to his excitement for the upcoming tournament, it was a feeling he hadn't felt since the Unova League and if he was being completely honest it was a feeling he'd missed. He looked down at Froslass and Pikachu who had chosen to sleep in his bed with him and smiled at them. He laid his head and closed his eyes hoping that he'd get to sleep quickly so he'd be rested for tomorrow.

Paige unlike Ash was successful in quickly getting to sleep however she was quickly plagued by nightmares something she'd suffered since her parents had been killed. A horrifying image of Ash being killed like her parents made her wake up with tears streaming down her face. She needed to see Ash now, she knew he was fine since in her eyes there was nothing that could stop Ash but she needed to see him. Paige practically leapt out of bed and ran out of her room, she got to Ash's room and knocked lightly on the door hoping he was awake.

* * *

Just as Ash was starting to doze off he heard a few gentle knocks on his door, he knew that the only who would knock on his door so quietly at this time of night was Paige so he gently got out of bed to he didn't wake Froslass and Pikachu. He walked over to the door and opened it seeing Paige stood there trembling while tears were trickling from her eyes. He knew that she must have had another nightmare so he immediately crouched down and pulled Paige into a tight hug. She instantly clutched on to Ash just to make sure that he was indeed here with her and sobbed into his shirt.

"Shh, shh, it's okay, it's okay, I'm here." Ash murmured.

While he held his sister, Ash was worried for Paige; he hadn't seen her be so upset about a nightmare for a long time so it must have been an awful one. When they had first met, this had been a daily occurrence but as time had gone on her nightmares had become less frequent and by now she was only having one every few weeks.

It still broke Ash's heart every time he saw the terrified look she'd have on her face after one of her nightmare. It really made him wonder what her nightmare was tonight, the only time she'd looked remotely like this was when she had had nightmares shortly after he'd rescued her. The nightmares had been the same every time, visions of her parents dying and of her being tortured by Team Galactic. He continued to hold her until her sobs gradually died down, she eventually pulled back slightly so she could look at him.

"Ash can I… can I sleep in your bed with you tonight?" she asked timidly.

"Of course, you can Paige. You never need to ask."

Paige smiled brightly at Ash and hugged him tightly, Ash responded by picking her up quickly and spinning her around which made her giggle. Ash smiled as he heard her laugh, he hated seeing her so upset and he wished he could stop her nightmares but sadly despite all the powers he had at his disposable he couldn't help her. All he could do was comfort her when she was upset and do his best to cheer her up.

He put her back on the floor and walked over to the bed, he got under the covers and was almost instantly joined by Paige who snuggled up to him. She wrapped her arms around him and rested her head on his chest, she smiled as she felt Ash return her embrace and like always she felt safe.

"Thank you, Ash. I love you." Paige whispered.

"I love you too."

Paige closed her eyes with a smile on her face and quickly fell to sleep, Ash remained awake for a while watching her peaceful face just in case the nightmare came back. After half an hour of sitting in silence it seemed like the nightmare wasn't going to return so he tightened his hold on Paige and joined her in slumber.

* * *

The next morning Ash woke up early as usual, he heard a soft snoring next to him and looked down at the peaceful sleeping face of his sister. He was relieved that she had managed to sleep calmly which after the bad nightmare she'd had last night surprised him. He smiled as he felt her snuggle closer to him and he tightened his hold on her.

Ash wasn't sure how long he laid there until he looked at his alarm clock and saw to his surprise that they only had fifteen minutes until Scott was going to be here to take them to the meeting. Ash knew he should really have cared at least a little bit since Scott had put a lot of effort into getting him to come to the meeting but he just couldn't bring himself to care about that. His sister would always take priority over anything else in his life.

"Fuck Scott's meeting if it's so important he can delay it for an hour or so." Ash thought.

Ash suddenly felt Paige stirring as she started to wake up, she shuffled out from under the covers and rubbed her eyes. She looked at her brother and smiled at him, she then wrapped her arms around Ash and felt the same warmth and comfort she always did when he returned her hugs. Ash held Paige tightly and felt relief flood through him, he had been worried that her nightmares had returned during the night but the bright smile on her face meant that they hadn't. Paige eventually broke the hug and her smile grew larger.

"Morning sleepy head. Did you get a good night's sleep?" Ash asked.

"Yes, I did, thanks for letting me stay in here Ash."

"It's no problem Paige, I'm glad that you were able to sleep well. Now you go get changed and I'll go make us some breakfast. Is there anything you want?"

"Pancakes!"

Ash chuckled and playfully ruffled Paige's hair making her giggle, the noise woke Pikachu and Froslass who smiled softly at the scene before them. Ash saw the two of them looking at them and brought them into a hug.

"Morning you two, Paige wants pancakes so if we have the ingredients I'm making pancakes."

"Yay!" Paige yelled.

Paige then threw herself at Ash and wrapped her arms around him, the force of Paige launching herself at Ash knocked them both down on the bed and they both started laughing as they held each other. The sibling eventually calmed down and Ash sat up pulling Paige up with him, he gave her one more hug and placed his hands on her shoulders.

"I know you want to stay here all day, trust me I do as well but we have a meeting to go to."

"I know we do." Paige replied with a sigh.

"Alright go and get changed we haven't got long until Scott gets here."

Paige nodded and reluctantly released her grip on Ash, she got up and walked out of Ash's room so they could both get ready for the day.

* * *

Ten minutes later Ash entered the kitchen and started rummaging through the cupboards hoping to find what he needed to make pancakes. He didn't have to look through the surprisingly well stocked draws long to find what he need and he quickly started mixing up a batch of pancakes.

By the time, Paige walked into the kitchen there was a mountain of pancakes stacked on the table, her eyes lit up and she sat at the table piling a horde of pancakes on her plate. Pikachu, Froslass and Riolu followed the young girl in and took their places at the table, the former immediately drenching his pancakes in ketchup making everyone else cringe.

"You've got a serious ketchup problem buddy." Ash stated.

Pikachu just ignored Ash and started scarfing down his ketchup covered pancakes, Paige, Froslass and Riolu blocked Pikachu from their view and started scoffing all their pancakes too. Ash suddenly remembered he hadn't asked the two legendries if they wanted any, they usually stuck to the food he made for his Pokémon but when it came to pancakes they never said no.

"Hey Celebi, Diancie do you want some pancakes?"

" _Hell yeah!" they both replied._

Both legendary Pokémon flew into the room and took a sat on the table either side of Ash, Pikachu and Froslass rolled their eyes as they watched the two legendary Pokémon cuddling up to Ash. A pair of plates was placed in front of the legendries.

"I hope you enjoy them."

The legendries replied with a simple nodded and then quickly hugged him before they started eating the pancakes, Ash smiled as he watched everyone enjoy the food and tucked into his own. It didn't take long for everyone to finish their breakfast and they sat with satisfied looks on their faces. The sound of a horn blaring grabbed everyone's attention, Ash and Paige sighed as they knew that was Scott.

They finished off their breakfast and placed their plates in the sink, they then walked into the hallway and put their cloaks on. Pikachu and Froslass took their places on Ash's shoulders while Riolu sat on Paige's shoulder, they headed towards the door and stopped just in front of it.

"Let's get this over with." Ash said.

"Yeah, the quicker this is done, the quicker we can come back here." Paige added.

Paige was about to open the door when she felt Ash gently grab her arm, she looked up his him confusedly and saw a sneaky grin on his face.

"Hey, do you want to have soon fun at Scott's expense." Ash asked.

Paige, Pikachu, Froslass and Riolu all smirked at Ash.

"Do you even need to ask?"

"Alright then, follow my lead."

Ash opened the door and was greeted by the sight of Scott grinning at him, Ash looked around the large man and saw a limousine parked behind him. Ash had to admit he was impressed; Scott was really pulling out all the stops but that just made him all the warier of Scott's motives.

"Good morning Thanatos." Scott said cheerily.

"Hello Scott." Ash and Paige replied.

"So, are you ready to go?"

"Well we've been ready for over an hour but someone was late." Ash replied.

"Yeah what the hell took you so long?" Paige asked.

Scott immediately averted his gaze and the siblings grinned as they watched the large man squirm.

"I was erm, I just... I… I overslept. Sorry I made you wait."

"I guess we can let you off this time but we'd better get moving, due to you being so late we'll need to hurry." Ash replied

"Wait a minute I'm not getting into the limousine if Scott's driving." Paige added.

"Don't worry I'm not, for some reason the company wouldn't let me drive this limousine."

Ash and Paige let out a sigh of relief and got into the limousine, Scott followed them inside and the driver started the engine. The siblings looked around the limousine and saw several buttons and it took all their self-restraint to not push any of them. Paige then spotted a button which would open the roof and couldn't resist the urge to push it, the sun roof opened and she stood up watching the scenery fly by.

Scott watching the young girl and was immediately concerned for Paige's safety, he considered telling the girl to sit down but knew that it would only result in angering Ash as well as the Pokémon sitting on his shoulders. He was thankful when he saw that Ash was gently tugged on Paige's arm to gain her attention.

"Paige please sit down, it's not safe up there." Ash said softy.

"Okay Ash."

Paige quickly sat down next to Ash and cuddled up to him, Ash wrapped an arm around her in response neither of them acknowledging the presence of Scott. The interaction between the two brought a smile to Scott's face, it was clear to him that despite the harsh way they act to others it was obvious that they only acted that way to protect themselves from other people. He cleared his throat to gain the siblings attention, it got the desired effect as both Ash and Paige turned their gaze to him.

"So, I guess I should spend the time we have before we arrive telling you about a few new faces in the Kanto League."

"Don't bother Scott, we may live in seclusion but we keep up with the changes happening in the leagues." Paige said.

"I'm surprised that you're so interested in that."

"We may not care about what happens in the outside world but we do like to know what's going on." Ash replied.

"Well since I don't need to tell you about the new additions to the Kanto League is there anything else you want to ask about?"

"Yeah how long is this meeting going to be?" Ash asked.

"We have much better things to do than sit in a room listening to whatever crap you're going to spew." Paige added.

Scott sighed and put a hand to his head as he felt a headache brewing which considering there was a long meeting soon was not good. A part of him was already warning him that bringing these two to the first meeting was probably a poor decision especially considering who some of the people who would be attending.

"It will be a couple of hours, we need to discuss the initial preparations for the tournament."

"So why the hell do we need to attend?" Paige asked

"Yeah, we have nothing to do with the preparations for the tournament, I'm just a competitor."

"My reasons are none of your concern for now."

"Whatever." Ash and Paige replied.

"Just trust me Ash, I have my reasons."

"I don't trust people; the only ones' I trust are my sister and our Pokémon. It's foolish to trust others Scott, it just makes it easier for them to stick a knife in your back. I learned that five years ago."

Scott had no response for that, he knew that whatever he said would be turned against him in some way so he remained silent hoping that his headache would go away. Ash and Paige were grateful for the silence from Scott, they were both sick and tired of hearing him speak. They just hoped they get there soon so they could get this meeting over with as quickly as possible.

* * *

Notes

Thank you all for reading this chapter, please leave a review below telling me what you liked and what I could improve on. I'm also willing to use any ideas you may have.

I know there isn't really any changes thus far but the early chapter are fine as they are


	5. The First Meeting

Hello guys, thank you for all the support thus far. I hope you'll continue to enjoy this story.

In conversations unless otherwise stated this is how you can tell what kind of speech is being used.

'- Poké Speech

"- Human speech

 _"- Aura/Telepathy_

Without further ado let the chapter begin!

* * *

The remainder of the drive was spent in silence, Scott was really taken aback by Ash's last statement and was still trying to figure out how to get through to him. He didn't think Ash would have so much disdain for practically everyone but then again, he had been betrayed by the people closest to him immediately after having his mother die in his arms. Scott couldn't even begin to imagine how that must have felt, to lose almost everything you cared about in the blink of an eye. A few minutes later the car came to a stop and Scott got out of the vehicle followed by Ash and Paige. Scott led the siblings into the building and up the stairs to a conference room, he stopped outside the room and faced Ash and Paige worried that the pair could provoke someone.

"We're here, please try not to start any fights with the people here. I'd rather not have to worry about an incident breaking out."

"No promises Scott, if someone starts something we'll finish it." Paige replied.

Scott looked to Ash hoping that he'd be reasonable about this and see the problems they could cause by making a commotion.

"What she said."

Scott sighed and shook his head, he should have known that that would be Ash's response, he briefly considered telling the pair that he'd had a charge of heart and they could go home but decided to just let things happen. He opened the door and led them into the room. The moment they walked through the door Sabrina's eyes immediately snapped to them, she was not interested in Scott's arrival since that meant that this pointless meeting would start soon. What intrigued her was the man next to Scott, his face was shrouded by his hood and he was scanning around the room until he final met her gaze. What shocked her was there appeared to be no intimidation in the man's eyes which was strange to say the least.

Sabrina suddenly an unusual presence pressing against her mentally barrier and quickly repulsed it, she glared at the man knowing that he must have been the presence she felt presumably trying to read her mind. She felt the presence remaining just outside of her barrier and it was wide open meaning he either couldn't control his powers or he was inviting her to converse, she immediately sent a mental message to the man offended that he had tried something.

" _If I were you I would not try that again, maybe you are not aware of the powers i have at my command." Sabrina said._

" _I am fully aware of what you can do and I was just curious to see how powerful the mighty Sabrina is and I have to admit I'm impressed. I have never met another being with so much power at their disposal. You need not worry about me I no quarrel with you, as long as you are not a threat to the people I care about."_

The presence was suddenly gone before Sabrina could respond to his comment, she mulled over the rather short conversation and was sure that the man's voice and presence was familiar but she couldn't quite place it. She decided that she would investigate this more at a later date since this man clearly had to be watched carefully. That was something she would attend to later though as right now she had a boring meeting to sit through and it would take all her power to focus on that as well as making sure the hooded man doesn't try anything.

She kept her gaze focused on the new arrival and while the man was a mystery right now, there was one thing she was certain of though and that was that the man is powerful indeed. She couldn't feel the pull of a Psychic presence which could only mean one thing, that he must be one of the few remaining Aura wielders in the world. This put her on edge and she knew that she'd have to be careful around him because with power like that he could be dangerous. Then again was she right to judge someone else considering what she had done in the past.

"Good morning Scott, who are those two?" Lance asked pulling Sabrina out of her thoughts.

"This is Thanatos and his sister Nemesis."

Several pairs of eyes widened in shock as they finally met the man that Scott had been raving about for the past few years. A man that most of them had expected to never see and some even believe to be a myth fabricated by Scott.

"So that is the Thanatos you've been telling us so much about? The one I've been searching for over the past year." Lance asked.

"Yes Lance, yes it is." Scott said with a smug tone.

Scott smirked at Lance as he saw the frustration in the Dragon Tamer's eyes, ever since the Kanto Champion had heard of what Thanatos had accomplished he'd been searching for him even when others told him it was futile. To this day no one was sure why Lance had been so determined to find the man, whether it was to test his strength, recruit into the G-Men or something else. All they knew was that Lance had been determined to find Thanatos and had spent a lot of time and money in trying to to do so. Lance slammed his fist down on the table angrily as he glared at Scott's smug face, he couldn't believe that Scott had so easily found Thanatos.

"How the hell did you find him? He's like a damn phantom! And the even bigger question how did you get this guy to compete in the tournament?!"

"Well I had a lot of luck when it came to finding him and I guess the prospect of this tournament was too much for Thanatos to resist."

Ash tuned out Scott after this and while Scott continued to introduce him to everyone, Ash looked around the room again this time having a much closer look at everyone and saw that many of the same faces he'd first encountered over ten years ago still looked pretty much the same. He then saw the new faces though that he'd heard about and wasn't impressed by what he saw. The first was a man who had replaced Giovanni as the final gym leader and it was obvious that he had neither the stature nor the power of his predecessor. The second was an older woman who had become Saffron City's Gym Leader when Sabrina was elevated to the Elite 4 and by the way she flinched when his gaze focused on her it was clear that she wasn't a patch on Sabrina. He didn't really care about either of them though, from he'd heard they were weak compared to the people they'd replaced which was blatantly obvious.

Ash kept studying everyone in the room when he spotted two of his once best friends, Brock and Misty sitting together. He immediately felt his blood boil at the two people who had known better than almost anyone yet had still betrayed him so easily. He suddenly felt one of Paige's small hands grab his, he looked down at Paige and saw her smiling at him which was more than enough to calm him. Ash let out a deep breath and smiled at Paige and gave her hand a squeeze showing his sister just how grateful he was to have her here supporting him.

 _"Thank you, I'm glad you are here Paige. I love you."_

 _"I love you too Ash and I will always be here to support you."_

 _"All I'll always be here for you."_

Ash smiled down at his sister again and then glanced around the room once again studying those present, his eyes once again fell on a woman who had always fascinated him… Sabrina. Although their first meeting ten years ago hadn't gone exactly well he could still remember how beautiful she looked when she laughed at Haunter's prank. He briefly wondered how she was now that Haunter was no longer with her but then brushed the thought aside since it was of no real concern to him unless she put Paige in danger.

 _"It appears Sabrina has grown considerably more powerful since our last meeting if that warning I got is anything to go by. I'm just amazed that she's also grown even more beautiful."_ Ash thought

Ash mentally slapped himself wondering where that thought had come from, quickly putting it down to memories of her being one of his teenage crushes. He then took a seat at the table with Paige quickly sitting next to him. A few people tried to sit either side of them but were quickly stopped by Pikachu, Froslass and Riolu jumping off Ash and Paige's shoulders, landing on to the chairs next to them and giving the people a warning glare. The message was clearly received as everyone made sure not to get too close to them. Scott was already starting to regret bringing Ash to the very first meeting but it was too late to go back now.

"Well now that we're all here let's get this meeting started."

Everyone gradually took a seat at the table occasionally glancing at the hooded people but making sure not to stare for too long. They snapped their gaze to Scott when he placed a massive stack of papers on the table and started going over the basic information on the tournament. Ash and Paige exchanged a look of boredom at they listened to Scott yammer on about the tournament.

" _This is going to be a long two hours."_ Ash said.

" _You can say that again."_ Paige replied.

* * *

(Three hours later)

Scott placed his stack of papers down on the table and let out a sigh of relief that the main part of the meeting was over. It had taken a lot longer due to some of the people asking questions while he explained the details about the tournament. He didn't need to look at Ash and Paige to know that they were annoyed that the meeting had taken so long, he could literally feel the irritation radiating from the two of them and knew that he needed to end this meeting as quickly as possible.

"So, are there any last questions?" Scott asked.

The room stayed silent much to Scott's relief, he was on the verge of ending the meeting when Ash voice a question.

"Yeah, I have one but not about the tournament, my question is for Miss Waterflower. She's been staring at me ever since I walked in the room and would like to know why." Ash growled.

The question came as a major surprise to Misty, she couldn't believe that the hooded man had caught her staring since he had been focussed on his sister for almost the entire meeting. She was extremely embarrassed that she had been caught though so she immediately looked away from the man who she could tell had clearly been angered by her staring.

"Oh, I'm sorry, you just remind me of someone I used to know. Someone who deserved a better friend than me." Misty murmured sadly.

"Misty you've got to stop being so hard on yourself, you're not the only who is to blame." Brock said.

"But I'm more to blame than most! I knew him for longer than almost anyone else and I didn't even give him a chance." Misty yelled angrily.

Misty then remembered that she was in a room full of people some of whom believed in Ash and some who didn't. She looked around the room at everyone seeing them all staring at her, some with glares while some of them were wearing sad expressions, she let out a sad sigh and stood up.

"Excuse me everyone."

With that Misty walked out of the room with her shoulders slumped, Ash felt a small amount of satisfaction as he watched her slink out of the room but he quickly disregarded the feeling. He was here to win a tournament not dwell on the past and those who had abandoned him. He turned his gaze to Brock who was watching Misty leave the room with a heartbroken look on his face. As he watched Brock; Ash suddenly realised that maybe he could just take one dig at Brock. It wouldn't be too bad if he just let go once and made the traitor feel guilt for his actions, he glanced at Paige and saw a smirk on her face.

"So, what was that about Brock?" Ash asked feigning ignorance.

"It was about an old friend that we foolishly lost. He died two years ago and she's blamed herself for it every day." Brock replied.

" _Good, that bitch deserves to be miserable after what she did."_ Paige said.

" _She does indeed."_

" _Are you going to say anything?"_

" _I promised myself on the way here that I would do anything in my power to avoid them and anything else to do with my past. However, with Brock right here I can't help but feel like I should get a little retribution."_

" _I agree one hundred percent."_

Ash and Paige smirked at one another a look that was missed by everyone apart from Scott who could tell that something bad was about to happen. Ash turned his gaze from Paige to Brock who was still watching the door Misty had just walked through.

"Oh, you mean Ash Ketchum, yes I know all about him. I believe you and Miss Waterflower were his closest friends and had travelled together for a long time. The two of you turning on him must have really crushed him. With friends like you who needs enemies right? Although i seriously doubt the two of actually cared about him considering how quick you were to betray him. Considering the lack of support shown to him in the media I think it's pretty clear that none of his so called friends cared."

"You have no idea what you're talking about!" Brock yelled.

Ash and Paige smirked again as Brock's expression changed from sorrow to rage. He quickly stood up, knocking his chair over in the process and he stormed towards the entrance throwing a quick glare at the hooded man before he opened the door and left the room. As the door closed behind Brock, Scott could practically feel the smugness radiating from Ash and Paige, he knew that the siblings had enjoyed that far more than they should have done.

Scott shook his head cursing himself for bringing Ash to the first meeting rather than waiting a while and trying to talk some sense into him. He should have known that Ash would use any opportunity to take a hit at his old friends for what they had done. Scott stared sadly at Ash, it was hard to believe that the kind boy he met years ago was now the man sat in front of him.

"He's changed more than I thought, as awful as this sounds I'm glad I didn't bring him to the Frontier Brain meeting first. I know for a fact that he'd have broken Anabel's heart with a single sentence and Arceus knows she's been through enough already." Scott thought.

"So why do the two of you wear those cloaks?" Lance inquired desperate to change the subject.

"We simply wish to remain anonymous." Ash replied.

"Yes but why? After everything you've done I'd have though you'd want some recognition." Lance queried.

"The things we did were done because they were the right thing to do not because we wanted fame and fortune for it." Ash replied calmly.

"Well I understand that, I am the leader of the G-Men but still..." Lance didn't get a chance to finish as Paige stood up and glared at him.

"Shut up Lance, it's none of your damn business." Paige snapped.

Agatha was quick to stand up and wagged her finger at the girl who had blatantly disrespected Lance.

"Hey, that was very rude. You, young lady need to learn some respect for your elders." Agatha scolded.

While the rational part of Ash's mind could see and understand why Agatha had reacted that way, his desire to protect Paige overwhelmed that and he stood up glaring at the former member of Kanto's Elite Four.

"Don't talk to my sister like that you retired old hag." Ash growled.

The old woman turned her gaze to the hooded man and shook her head in disappointment.

"Well with a role model like you it's no surprise she's a rude little girl."

"Hey, don't disrespect my brother like that, he's a better person than any of you could ever wish to be!"

Paige glared at Agatha and was on the verge of storming over to the woman, Ash knew that Paige could do something rash if she wasn't calmed soon so he gently placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Calm down Nemesis, let me handle this." Ash said calmly.

Paige looked at Ash knowing that he was more than capable of dealing with situation so she calmed herself down and nodded. She saw the smirk that had appeared on Ash's face and knew what he had in mind, she couldn't wait to watch what was about to happen. Ash smiled at his sister as he saw she had already figured out what he planned and then glared at Agatha, he may have respected the woman but no one got away with talking to his sister like that.

"You've insulted me and my sister, so Agatha I challenge you to a battle."

"I accept your challenge boy, just tell me why you want to battle." Agatha replied.

"So that I can humiliate you in front of all these people. Now what do you say we make this interesting? If you somehow win, we will admit that you are right and apologise to you and the rest of the people in this room but when I win you all agree to leave us alone."

"Alright kid, I agree to your terms. I'll show you how to battle and I'll teach you some manner's."

"Well you can certainly try Agatha, I'll see you outside on the battlefield in five minutes' time."

Before anyone could respond Ash and Paige left the room leaving everyone inside stunned that anyone would dare to not only talk to Agatha like that but challenge her to a battle and sound so cocky. Even the members of The Elite 4 wouldn't challenge Agatha in such an overconfident way. Agatha ignored everything else in the room and walked out intent on showing this punk that no one disrespects her. As soon as Agatha left the room everyone else quickly filed out of the room and headed down towards the battlefield all waiting to see if this Thanatos is as good as they've heard.

* * *

Ash and Paige were stood at the battlefield waiting for Agatha to join them, Pikachu had already nominated himself as the one to battle which had disappointed Froslass but when she heard that Pikachu wanted revenge for a loss he suffered to Agatha she was happy to let him destroy the old hag. Eventually Agatha walked out of the building and stood opposite the siblings, she took a Pokéball out of her bag and held it at her side.

"So, you decided to show up, you were taking so long that I was beginning to think you weren't coming." Ash taunted.

"I wouldn't miss the opportunity so show a punk like you some respect. Gengar let's show him why you should respect elders."

Gengar burst out of the Pokéball in Agatha's hand and stood on the battlefield carefully studying the Pikachu opposite him, he didn't know what it was but something about the Pikachu seemed familiar. The two Pokémon stared each other down, focussed entirely on their opponent they didn't even flinch when the door to the building slammed open and several of the gym leaders and Elite 4 piled outside to watch the battle.

"Alright Thanatos you can have the first move."

"If you insist Agatha, Pikachu use Quick Attack."

"Well it looks like Scott was lying when he spoke of your skill boy considering you're making such an amateur mistake. Gengar just let him try hit his little Quick Attack."

Pikachu shot off and all you could see was a blur as he charged towards Gengar. When he was near the ghost type Pikachu leapt at him and passed straight through Gengar as everyone expected, Agatha and Gengar smirked at the foolish move while everyone watching was surprised that Thanatos would make such a basic error. Everyone was taken aback though when they saw Thanatos and Nemesis smirking.

"You made a big mistake Agatha, Pikachu use Lightning Tail!"

Pikachu's tail suddenly took a metallic sheen and had sparks of electricity crackling from it, he then slammed his tail into Gengar's back which made him let out a pained cry and it sent the ghost type flying into the air. Ash and Pikachu turned their gaze from Gengar to Agatha and saw a shocked look on her face, they smirked as they knew that she realised she had sorely underestimated them.

"So, who's the amateur now?"

Agatha collected herself and looked at Thanatos, she hated to admit it but she was impressed by the move and at the same annoyed at her own failure.

"That was a smart move boy but you'll need more than that to beat me. Gengar turn around and use Shadow Ball."

"Counter it with Electro Ball."

Gengar quickly regathered himself in the air and turned around to face Pikachu, he formed an orb of black energy between his hands and launched it at Pikachu. At the same time, Pikachu formed a ball of electricity at the end of his tail and it shot straight towards Gengar's Shadow Ball, what many failed to see was that an aura of electric energy was still surrounding Pikachu's tail. Up in the air the attacks clashed and a power struggled began where neither attack seemed able to overpower the other one and sparks of electricity and black energy were shooting off from the attacks.

"I hate to admit it boy but I'm impressed, not many Pokémon can match Gengar's Shadow Ball."

"Trust me Agatha your Gengar's Shadow Ball is nowhere near a match for Pikachu's Electro Ball. Pikachu stop playing around."

Pikachu nodded and spun around flinging the electricity that had been surrounding his tail at his Electro Ball which made the attack grow significantly larger. The now far more powerful Electro Ball easily brushed aside the Shadow Ball and rammed into Gengar, shocking the ghost sending him flying away once again. Gengar once again regathered himself and glared down at Pikachu who was wearing a cocky smirk.

"Well you overpowered one Shadow Ball, let's see you do the same to several. Rapid Fire Shadow Ball."

"I don't need to match them, Pikachu jump on them then use Discharge when you get close."

Gengar quickly formed several smaller Shadow Balls and launched them at Pikachu, the mouse watched the orbs headed his way and ran straight towards them. The spectators looked on thinking they were about to see Pikachu get pummelled into the earth but were shocked to see Pikachu at the last second leap over the first Shadow Ball which crashed into the ground making a giant crater. Pikachu continued jumping to Shadow Balls until he was in range of Gengar, he leapt one more time and landed on Gengar. The ghost looked at Pikachu with a fearful look on his face.

'Say goodnight Casper.'

Before Gengar could respond Pikachu released a massive wave of electricity which due to Pikachu being right next to Gengar was absolutely devastating to the ghost type. Everyone watched in awe as electricity filled the sky, they heard Gengar letting out an agonised cry, the Discharge ended moments later and Gengar started plummeting towards the ground with smoke billowing from his body.

Ash sighed in disappointment as he watched Gengar plummet completely helpless towards the ground, he had honestly expected Agatha to put up more of a fight. Part of him was tempted to leave it at that but he really wanted to make a statement here and ensure that people knew that staying away from them was the best course of action.

"I'm tired of this, Pikachu finish this with Volt Tackle."

Pikachu nodded, a yellow aura surrounded him and he aimed himself straight at Gengar. He didn't want to hurt Gengar any more than necessary so he toned down the power on his Volt Tackle just to be safe. Moments later Pikachu rammed into Gengar sending the ghost Pokémon flying into the ground in front of the spectators, a huge dust cloud was raised temporarily blinding everyone. When the dust settled, everyone saw that Gengar was to the surprise of everyone apart from Ash, Paige and their Pokémon unconscious. Agatha pointed her Pokéball at Gengar and recalled the ghost Pokémon.

"You fought bravely Gengar, thank you."

"I'm disappointed Agatha, you lost this match the moment you treated me and Pikachu like a couple of amateur's. It's a shame really, you were once so powerful but now you've gotten weak in your retirement. Now I expect all of you to honour our deal and leave us alone, come on Nemesis, we've wasted enough time here."

Paige nodded and followed Ash towards the path that would lead them to their temporary home, Pikachu caught up to the siblings and took his place on Ash's shoulder. Ash gave the mouse a scratch behind the ear and then stopped next to Scott smirking at the astonished look on his face.

"Same time tomorrow Scott?"

Scott quickly scribbled down a number on a piece of paper and gave it to Ash.

"Thanatos this is my Pokénav number, call me later and I'll tell when the next meeting you'll need to attend is taking place." Scott replied.

Ash nodded and walked away quickly followed by Paige, when they were far enough away all five of them started laughing at the looks on everyone's faces when they saw how easily he had beaten Agatha.

"Nice job back there Thanatos, I loved the overkill."

"Thanks Nemesis, I can't believe how weak she's gotten since she retired. I was thinking of taking it easy on her out of respect but that amateur comment got to me."

'Me too, the old hag got what she deserved for disrespecting us.' Pikachu added.

"Well I seriously doubt that many people will talk to us after today, the other regions are going to find out what happened to Agatha and in all likelihood the majority of people won't want to provoke us again."

"Aw but I want to see you annihilate more people, it was fun watching you crush her." Paige whined.

"I have to admit it was a lot of fun beating Agatha and getting revenge for my loss to her all those years ago. However, what I said to Brock will cause problems when we go to the Sinnoh meeting."

"Why do you think that will be a problem?"

"Well Cynthia is still the Champion of Sinnoh so she'll be at the meeting."

"I still don't see the problem."

"Well part of me believes Scott when he said that people thought I was innocent and searched for me. Although he didn't specify who I think it's safe to say that Cynthia is one of the ones who would have done that. She'll hear about what happened today with Agatha and what I said to Brock and I don't think she'll be my biggest fan."

"Would it really make her react that badly?"

"I think it would do, the two of us got rather close after I lost to Tobias in the Sinnoh League. She took me under her wing and helped me train for the Unova League, without her it would have been a lot harder for me to win that league."

"Come on Thanatos, so what if she does get mad, you crushed Agatha and I know you'll do the same to Cynthia."

"While I appreciate the praise believe me when I say that it won't be that easy Nemesis, Cynthia's powerful, far more powerful than anyone I have ever faced. I know I'd have to go all out to have a chance of beating her and I'd rather not show off my full power as well some of my top strategies in a non-tournament match."

"I suppose you're right, now that i think about it won't you have the same problem with the Battle Frontier meeting then since Anabel was close to you."

Ash hadn't really thought about that, he hadn't really considered the Frontier Brains at first but it was a fair point. He had gotten close to Anabel during the short time they'd spent together and she was one of the first to congratulate him on his performance in the Unova League. he could still remember his heart beat quickening when Anabel hugged him. he shook away the memory and smiled at Paige.

"I'm not sure what will happen with them, unlike Cynthia I don't think Anabel would start a fight, she'd be more likely to avoid the meeting so she wouldn't have to be in the same room as me. The rest of the Brains on the other hand could be a problem, from what I've heard they are very protective of Anabel. I believe that most of them would be simple to deal with but Brandon has the three Hoenn Golem's and may have access to Regigigas as well."

" _We could take those old Golem's" Celebi declared._

" _Yeah, just leave them to us. We'll show them what real Legendary Pokémon can do." Diancie added._

"I know you could beat them but I don't want you risking revealing yourselves just so we can deal with an angry guy and his Regi's."

" _Ash, we know what we're doing, if it comes to a battle against the Regi's we want to fight for you."_

" _Like Celebi said we know what we're doing Ash, we are not afraid of revealing ourselves so please let us do this for you."_

"Well if you two are sure then if Brandon challenges us I'll let you both battle."

An excited grin formed on Paige's face, she'd never seen Celebi and Diancie fight a proper battle only sparring matches with Ash's other Pokémon so she was really hoping that Brandon would be dumb enough to challenge her brother. Ash saw the look on Paige's face and knew she wanted to see the battle, even though he wanted to keep a low profile to keep attention away from them he would do anything to make Paige happy. With that in mind he started to think of ways to provoke Brandon enough to make him want to battle.

"I really hope he wants to battle with you." Paige said.

"So, do I Nemesis, so do I. Right let's go back to our temporary home and see how everyone's training is going. Celebi can you teleport us out of here please?"

" _Of course, Ash."_

In a flash of light Ash and Paige were instantly teleported to Scott's private home.

* * *

Notes

Thank you all for reading this chapter, please leave a review below telling me what you liked and what I could improve on. I'm also willing to use any ideas you may have.

This chapter has seen the most change, originally Ash provoked Brock by saying about how he was a murderer and the world was better off without him. I changed it to Ash taking shots at anyone claiming to be his friends instead simply because it feels more like a direct shot at them. Plus it felt weird to have Ash basically do a 180 on his opinion just to take a shot at Brock.


	6. Taunting Tobias

Hello guys, thank you for all the support thus far. I hope you'll continue to enjoy this story.

Glad to see that the changes have gone down well with readers of the original.

In conversations unless otherwise stated this is how you can tell what kind of speech is being used.

'- Poké Speech

"- Human speech

 _"- Aura/Telepathy_

Without further ado let the chapter begin!

* * *

Moments after Teleporting away from the road Ash and Paige appeared in the training field of Scott's private home, Ash quickly dragged Paige back as he could sense two charged attacks headed their way. He moved quick enough that they narrowly avoiding a Flamethrower from Charizard clashing with Sceptile's Solarbeam. When both Pokémon saw Ash and Paige inches away from where there attacks had clashed they immediately walked over to them with apologetic looks on their faces. Paige hugged both pokemon while Ash patted them on the shoulder while smiling at them.

"It's fine you two, you have no way of knowing that we'd suddenly Teleport here."

Charizard and Sceptile grinned at Ash and Paige, relieved that they had been forgiven and went back to their battle. Ash watched the pair and was impressed as he watched them battle, he knew his pokemon were strong but those two seemed to be taking it up a notch for the tournament. Froslass and Pikachu then got off Ash's shoulder, the former levitated over to Gengar and started battling her fellow ghost type. The latter on the other hand sat on the grass and watched everyone training with a saddened expression, his gaze falling on Sceptile and Charizard. Ash had seen the look several times before but the mouse had always adamantly denied it whenever he brought it up. Ash crouched down and placed his hand comfortingly on Pikachu's back, the expression on Pikachu face quickly changed and he smiled at his best friend. Ash wasn't buying it though, he knew something was wrong with his best friend but he just didn't know how to get the mouse to tell him.

"Hey, we're going to go inside and get lunch ready, you want to come with us?"

'No thanks, I think I'll stay out here for a bit longer.'

"Okay buddy."

Ash and Paige went inside reluctantly leaving Pikachu on his own, the mouse went back to watching everyone training and felt a strong surge of disappointment, not in those training but in himself. Despite how hard he trained now he just couldn't get any stronger, he had always known that the day would come that his body would reach its full potential but he hadn't expected to be so disappointed in what its full potential was.

It had become clear to him that he was without a shadow of a doubt the weakest Pokémon at Ash's disposal which saddened the mouse especially when he was certain that Ash would use him late on in the tournament despite knowing that he had stronger Pokémon and he could be possibly be the reason for their defeat.

Pikachu turned his gaze to Ivysaur who like him had chosen not to evolve and had also reached his full potential, the reason for him not evolving however was different. Ivysaur didn't want to evolve because as a Venusaur he would lose his speed which had always been a major part of his battle style, Pikachu on the other hand was mainly holding himself back because of his pride.

Since the loss to Lt Surge and Raichu he had been determined to prove that you didn't need to evolve to be strong and he had proven it several times however now that he had hit his peak he was now starting to question that belief. What made him question his decision even more was that he'd heard that Ivysaur was considering evolve to get gain the significant power boost he would get.

'Maybe it's time I put aside my pride and finally evolve.' Pikachu thought.

* * *

Meanwhile back at the battlefield where Ash had crushed Agatha, everyone was still in shock at how easily Thanatos had dealt with the former Elite 4 member. Lance was the first to get over his shock and anger started to take its place. He couldn't believe someone would be so disrespectful Agatha and was now regretting putting so much effort into finding Thanatos.

"Okay Scott what the hell is that guys' problem?! We ask simple questions and the two of them explode and then have the audacity to disrespect Agatha." Lance queried.

Scott sighed sadly as he continued to stare at the path the siblings had walked down, he had always known that Ash would be a changed man after what happened but this was not what he had been expecting. He turned his gaze to Lance with a saddened expression on his face which surprised the Dragon Tamer.

"The two of them have been through some traumatic events and because of that they have suffered tremendously. I Knew Thanatos and it's no surprise that he is not the person I once knew. Although had I known just how much he had changed I would have waited a while before bringing him to meet you all."

"What happened to the pair of them and why were they so hostile?"

"It's really not my place to tell you what they have experienced, what happened to them is personal which is not something that I have the right to disclose and I based on today's events I suggest you avoid asking them about what has happened to them. Now I bid you farewell, I shall inform you all of any future meetings I have planned."

Scott then walked away before any more questions could be thrown at him about the siblings, everyone watched him and were still trying to process what had happened as well as wonder about what had happened to the siblings to make them behave this way.

"Well a traumatic event would explain a lot about their behaviour." Lance finally announced.

While everyone discussed the potential things that could have happened to the Thanatos and Nemesis, Sabrina stayed silent and kept her sight set firmly on where the siblings had walked. The pair intrigued her, she wasn't sure what but there was something about them that peaked her curiosity.

"I think that Thanatos knows a lot more about Ash than he's letting on. It will be impossible to read his mind but I could use the girl… no, no that's not who I am anymore. I will not manipulate others, that would spit on the memory of Ash and everything he did to save me from myself. I'll just have to bide my time." Sabrina thought.

The gym leaders and Elite 4 members gradually left, some intent on finding out more about Thanatos while others were content to avoid the cloaked man at any cost. Eventually Scott was left alone still watching the road Ash and Paige had walked down wondering what he could do to bring back the Ash people knew and loved. He was brought out of his thoughts by his Pokénav ringing, he quickly pulled it out and accepted the call. He was slightly worried to see Ash appear on the screen as he had not had the chance to plan when he should risk bringing Ash to another meeting.

"Hi Thanatos."

"Hello Scott."

"So, I guess you want to know when the next meeting will be."

"Yes, we do, so when is the next giant waste of time?" Paige asked.

"Of course, you put it on speaker phone." Scott muttered with a sigh.

"Well I thought that my sister deserved to give her input, her opinion is very important to me."

"Okay, it'll be next week; tensions are running high after your stunt today and it's safe to say that a few people would be angry to see you. So, I've decided that it would be best if you missed the next few meetings. Just please, I beg of you don't cause any more trouble."

"Okay Scott, I won't actively look to start any fights. I will retaliate though if someone starts something."

"Yeah we won't just sit there and take it."

Their responses didn't reassure Scott as he wasn't quite sure what constituted 'starting something' with Ash and Paige was. Sadly, Scott knew that if he wanted Ash to come to meeting he had no choice but to accept Ash's terms.

"Okay I assure you that nobody will start a fight with you. I will see you both next week."

Scott immediately hung up and began planning when the best time to bring Ash to another gathering. It was obvious that a Sinnoh meeting would be a bad idea due to the presence of Cynthia and there was no way he was exposing Anabel to this darker version of the man she had come to love. It left him with three options and he knew that he would have to pick carefully if he wanted to avoid a fight. Scott rubbed his forehead as a headache plagued him and decided to leave the rest of the planning for later.

* * *

Back at the private home Scott had given Ash and Paige the siblings were pleased that they had gotten what they wanted. The outcome had surprised Paige though especially because of how quickly Scott capitulated to their demands. She had expected Scott to have argued more and tried to guilt trip Ash again like he had in his office but he had just capitulated.

"He agreed to your terms pretty easily, why would he do that?"

"It's because he knows he has no choice but to agree because if he doesn't then I refuse to go and whatever plan he's brewing will be ruined."

"Well he can plan all he likes it's not going to change your mind… right?"

Ash turned his gaze to Paige and could see the worry in her eyes, he knew she wanted nothing to change which was a relief for him as he wanted the exact same thing. He quickly scooped her up and twirled her around earning a giggle from her. He then pulled her close to him and hugged her tightly, the embrace quickly being reciprocated by Paige. He rested his forehead against her and smiled as he looked into her eyes.

"There is no way Scott will change my mind Paige, what we said to Scott when we first arrived is the truth and nothing will change that. We're just going to stay here for the tournament and then we're going back home."

"Good I just don't want things to change."

"Me neither, now let's get something to eat I'm starving."

The stomachs of both siblings then growled confirming Ash's statement, both Ash and Paige laughed and made their way to the kitchen. They quickly whipped up a meal between them and sat down to eat. As they devoured their food they both just hoped that they would get a few days' peace before Scott bothered them again.

* * *

The next morning Ash was awoken by someone knocking on the door, he emitted an irritated growl as he knew that it must be Scott. He reluctantly got up making sure not to wake Paige and quickly got washed and dressed. The sound of Scott knocking was grating Ash's nerves and by the time he opened the door he was thoroughly pissed off. His mood got worse when he saw the happy look on Scott's face.

"Good morning Thanatos."

"What are you doing here Scott?"

"Straight to the point I see, okay well I'm here to tell you that we've informed all of the invited trainers that they must participate in a practice match in the stadium today."

"Fine, I'll get Paige, Pikachu and Froslass and then I'll crush whoever I have to face."

"Actually, you don't have a match."

"Why not?"

"Well there are forty-three invited trainers so there are twenty-one pairs and one person left over. There was a random draw to see who wouldn't have a match and your name was drawn."

"So, what you mean is that you rigged that draw so I'd sit in the V.I.P box."

Scott stared at Ash, shocked that he had guessed what he had done so quickly. The Ash he knew would never have thought of that but then this wasn't the Ash he once knew. Ash saw the shocked look on Scott's face and insulted that the large man thought he was as gullible as he was five years ago.

"I'm not that clueless boy you once knew Scott, he died five years ago."

"Are you going to go?"

"Yes, I promised I'd attend meetings and sit in the V.I.P box and I keep my promises."

"Okay thank you, the matches begin in about an hour so I'll see you at the main stadium."

Ash shut the door without responding to Scott and started breakfast hoping that the smell of bacon would lure Paige out of bed. His idea was successful and a few minutes later he was greeted by a half-asleep Paige who was rubbing the sleep from her eyes. She slowly made her way to the table and sat down, a plate being placed in front of her quickly woke her up and she salivated at the bacon and eggs in front of her.

Breakfast didn't last long as both sibling demolished the food, Ash quickly explained the situation to Paige and after she got ready they headed towards the main stadium. After a gentle stroll, they arrived at the stadium with a few minutes to spare. They entered the stadium and were escorted to the V.I.P box by several security personnel.

When they got to the V.I.P box they found that almost everyone was present, the only ones missing were the Sinnoh representatives. Ash quickly spotted a couple of seats that were empty with only Sabrina nearby which was the best chance they had to be away from most of the people here. However, after his last encounter with Sabrina he was slightly dubious about sitting near her but decided that it would be relatively safe since she probably wouldn't try anything here.

A small smirk appeared on Sabrina's face as she watched her plan work out just as she had expected, she had deliberately chosen to sit here as based on his actions the other day Thanatos was bound to do his best avoid most of the others. Rather than converse out loud she decided to open a mind link with Thanatos hoping the Aura wielder would respond and be more willing to have a private conversation.

 _"Probing my mind for information is a very dangerous thing to do Thanatos."_ Sabrina said.

 _"I did not probe your mind for any information you may or may not have. I did it to make sure you knew not to try anything with those powers of yours. You were once a very dangerous woman Sabrina and I had to make sure my sister would be safe."_

 _"Trust me I mean you and your sister no harm."_

 _"I don't trust people, the only beings you can rely on are your family and your Pokémon. Trusting people makes it easier for them to stab you in the back."_

Sabrina's line of thought was brought to a grinding halt by Thanatos' words, it was obvious that he had gone through a traumatic event like Scott had said. It was the only explanation for how he behaved so aggressively towards anyone other than his sister. Sabrina was about to query Thanatos on anything he knew about Ash when Cynthia suddenly sat in the seat between her and Thanatos, which broke her concentration and severed the link with Thanatos making her glare at the Sinnoh Champion for interuptting her.

* * *

Ash sensed the connection with Sabrina be severed and that his former mentor Cynthia had entered the room and taken a seat next to him. Ash could feel the intense glare that was being directed at him and could sense the anger radiating from Cynthia so he decided to face her and see if they could resolve the problem she clearly had with him. When he looked at Cynthia he was momentarily surprised by just how intense the glare Cynthia was directing at him was. He'd never have thought Cynthia would be capable of such a look but considering what he had said to Brock at the Kanto meeting it shouldn't have come as such a surprise.

"I know what you said at the Kanto meeting about Ash's friends and how we didn't care about him and beleive me right now there's nothing I want more than to have my Garchomp Hyper Beam you to oblivion but first I want to know why you said such a thing."

Ash sighed, he was worried that this would happen after his actions at the Kanto meeting and knew that if he wanted to avoid a fight with Cynthia he would have to pick his words carefully something he hadn't really had to do much during his five years of exile.

"Listen Miss Shirona I don't have any disdain for all those who were friends of Ash Ketchum as I know that some of you never gave up on him. I have disdain for those who turned their backs on him immediately. Only an utter fool would believe he would be guilty of destroying a city and murder. I simply said those things to get a reaction from those who had abandoned him at his darkest hour which is exactly what I got."

Ash watched Cynthia carefully as the anger drained from her face, after all the time he had spent with her he knew that she was not an angry woman. Unless you did something to enrage her which by the look she had been giving him turned her into a force of destruction.

"Well it's a relief to hear that, I had assumed you thought of us all like that and possibly that you believed Ash to be guilty too. It's nice to see that not all people believed the lies the media spread."

A bright smile suddenly appeared on Cynthia's face replacing the enraged look instantly and Ash realised that she must not hear people siding with her on a regular basis on this subject. It was the only explanation for why she had gone from sending him a death glare to a brilliant smile in a matter of seconds. Ash had to admit that seeing his former mentor smile again was a beautiful sight to behold.

"Darkrai use Dark Void, then use Dream Eater."

Before Ash could think about Cynthia anymore he sighed in agitation as he heard a voice he had despised ever since his journey in the Sinnoh region. While he wasn't that surprised that Tobias got an invite it still irritated him that someone who only uses legendary Pokémon has gotten a position in a tournament as prestigious as this.

"Of course, Tobias is here. Can someone please tell me why Tobias got an invite?" Ash asked.

"Well he's won every league he's participated in and the only time he lost a Pokémon was against…" Mr Goodshow trailed off.

"We can't not invite someone with such an impressive history." Lance added.

"It's not impressive at all." Paige said.

Everyone looked at Paige in shock, they couldn't believe that anyone would so casually dismiss a trainer of Tobias' stature. He had won several leagues and only ever struggled in one battle.

"How can you say that when he's been so successful?" Mr Goodshow asked.

Ash growled as he grew more annoyed at the situation, he found it hard to believe that a collection of the greatest trainers in the world could clearly see how overrated a trainer Tobias is.

"I thought you were all smarter than this, if you don't already know it's not worth my time explaining it to you."

Ash was about to get up and go down to the battlefield to settle some unfinished business with Tobias when a hand grabbed his arm. He looked at who it was and saw Cynthia looking him straight in the eye, internally he was telling himself that he should just wrench his arm out of her grasp and leave the room but for some reason he couldn't do it. Meanwhile the entire room was stunned to silence and they watched them waiting to see how Thanatos would react. The only one who hadn't been stunned was Sabrina who was already prepared to unleash her psychic powers if Thanatos reacted violently.

"Please explain." Cynthia murmured breaking the silence.

Ash let out an annoyed sigh, he really wanted to leave and deal with Tobias but decided that for the sake of times he would do as Cynthia asked so he sat back down.

"Fine, it's not impressive because he's only used his Darkrai and occasionally his Latios to win all of his matches. Using Legendary Pokémon takes no skill at all, they are naturally stronger than other Pokémon and have unique abilities that give them an extra advantage. You could give any ten-year-old that Darkrai of his and get the exact same results." Ash answered.

The room went silent as they considered his words which gave Ash the perfect opportunity to leave the room and head down to the battlefield.

"Come on Nemesis, we have business to attend to."

"Hell yeah!"

The siblings left the V.I.P box which was still in silence and walked down the steps to the battlefield, when they got to the wall Ash easily leapt over it and stood on the battlefield. Paige followed soon after and landed safely in Ash's arms. He put her down and they walked towards Tobias who was watching the hooded pair curiously as they stood in the trainer box opposite him.

"Hello Tobias, fancy a battle?"

The question shocked Tobias, he had just annihilated an accomplished trainer and this unknown person had challenged him so casually. This immediately gained his attention and for the first time in years he was interested in battling someone. A smirk appeared on Tobias's face as even though he knew that thanks to Darkrai it wouldn't really be a challenge it would be a pleasure to humiliate this random guy in front of all these people.

"You just watched my Darkrai sweep that guy aside and you want to challenge me? Fair enough, I accept."

"There is one condition though, I want to challenge your non-legendary Pokémon. Anyone can use legendries and win so prove how good you are and use a regular Pokémon."

The smirk on Tobias' face vanished at the prospect of not having access to his strongest Pokémon and he placed Darkrai's Pokéball back in his pocket. He turned his back on the hooded strangers and started walking towards the exit.

"I don't have to prove anything to you."

Tobias smirked and believing he had ended their verbal battle carried on walking away ignoring the booing and jeering by the crowd.

"Hey Tobias! You're either a coward or you have no faith in your non-legendary Pokémon." Paige declared.

A growl was emitted by Tobias as he heard the small one taunting him, his anger only increasing as the crowd started chanting "coward" at him. He decided to once again ignore it though and continued walking towards the tunnel, he had nothing to gain by fighting here.

"Well it seems that the mighty Tobias is running away. Hey Tobias when we meet in the tournament I want to warn you that you're not the only one who has a team of legendary Pokémon. I have six on my side who can't wait to show you how weak you actually are."

Tobias stopped in place, he turned around and he glared at the two hooded figures who were mocking him. He had had enough of their taunts especially as the crowd had sided with them and were mocking him mercilessly. This not only angered him but showed him how fickle fans were as only moments ago, they had been chanting his name.

"I am not weak!" Tobias growled.

"Prove me wrong then, don't use any legendary Pokémon until our fight and I'll say that you aren't weak."

"I already told you I don't have to prove anything to you."

Ash smirked at Tobias, he knew that the coward wouldn't accept his challenge but he had achieved his goals. He had made the gym leaders, Elite 4's and Battle Frontier members see that Tobias isn't as strong as they thought, he had gotten in Tobias' head and turned the crowd against him which judging by the look on Tobias's face was a big deal.

"On the contrary Tobias, you have everything to prove. Farewell."

Ash and Paige turned away and began walking down the tunnel behind them listening as the crowd continued to mock Tobias and some began chanting for the "hooded man". Once they were out of the stadium Ash looked down at Paige and smiled as he saw her looking up at him lovingly. He then saw her eyes light up as she spotted something behind him. Ash turned around and saw the ice cream vendor behind them.

"Come on let's go get some ice cream."

Paige cheered and threw her arms around her brother, Ash was more than happy to return the embrace and hugged Paige tightly.

"I love you Thanatos."

"I love you too Nemesis."

As the pair walked over to the ice cream vendor neither of them noticed a certain blonde haired Champion watching them from a distance. A tear trickled down Cynthia's as she watched the scene before her, the love between the two siblings was clear and it was very touching to see a soft side to Thanatos. As she thought about the way Thanatos treat his sister a warm feeling started to swell inside her, a few moments later her eyes widened as she realised when she had last had a feeling like this. She looked at the siblings again and her heart raced as a blush tinged her cheeks and only one thought ran through her mind.

* * *

Notes

Thank you all for reading this chapter, please leave a review below telling me what you liked and what I could improve on. I'm also willing to use any ideas you may have.


	7. A Little Retribution

Hello guys, thank you for choosing to follow/favourite this story and I hope that you'll continue to enjoy this story.

In conversations unless otherwise stated this is how you can tell what kind of speech is being used.

'- Poké Speech

"- Human speech

 _"- Aura/Telepathy_

Without further ado let the chapter begin!

* * *

Cynthia placed a hand over her racing heart as a combination of shock and confusion consumed her thoughts. She couldn't understand how she could feel like this about a man she'd only met once for a very short amount of time. She peaked around the corner again to get a glance of the two and suddenly realised what had stirred up these feelings. It was the Pikachu on Thanatos' shoulder as well as the way he behaved with his sister, it was so reminiscent of Ash's behaviour. Tears threatened to fall as she thought of her deceased friend but she blinked them away.

She watched the siblings walk towards the ice cream vendor and an idea popped into her head. She had wanted to talk to Thanatos about anything he might know about Ash which was why she had left the stadium when she saw him and Nemesis leave. The problem was that he was apparently very difficult to approach and even harder to converse with. However, she now had a perfectly innocent reason to approach the pair, she just had to make it look like she had been looking for something to eat. The Sinnoh Champion gathered herself and walked out from behind her hiding place, she headed towards the pair and decided to announce her presence early.

"Hello Thanatos."

The siblings turned to face the Sinnoh Champion who saw their faces harden at the sight of her which was intimidating to say the least. Regardless of that she approached the pair wondering what had happened to the siblings to make them act like this to other people. Nemesis quickly crossed her arms and turned away clearly showing she had no interest in talking.

"Hello miss Shirona, I assumed you would remain in the stadium to spectate the rest of the practice matches."

"I honestly wasn't that interested in the first place, the only reason I went was to meet you. As you know I was pretty angry with you after what you said at the Kanto meeting."

"That's understandable."

"It's also not been very well organised, it's almost as if this practice day was set up at the last minute. Though I can't think of why Scott would do something like that."

" _I can certainly think of a reason."_

" _Yeah the fat sod tricked us."_

" _Well that's not going to happen again."_

As they had their conversation neither Ash or Paige noticed the Sinnoh Champion purchase her ice cream or see that she was now studying them both intensely. Cynthia watched the pair and knew that they must be communicating through some form of telepathy. An idea suddenly popped into her head as she stood there and she vowed to talk to Sabrina as soon as possible to find out anything she may know of the pair. Suddenly the siblings snapped their gaze to her which was slightly intimidating.

"Well enjoy the rest of your day miss Shirona."

Cynthia didn't want the conversation to be over yet though, she had so many question for Thanatos. However, she knew that she may end up crossing a boundary which could ruin any chance she had of getting answers from him. The way his sister had also placed herself slightly in front of him while glaring up at her was another indicator that it was a good time to leave. She gave the pair a gentle smile and with a wave she began to walk away trying to salvage her rapidly melting ice cream.

* * *

Ash and Paige watched the Sinnoh Champion walk away both wondering what she was up to. It was obvious that she had followed them out of the stadium to question them but they couldn't figure out why. They both decided to shrug it off for now and quickly finished off their ice creams.

"Come on let's get out of here before people start flooding out and harassing us after what happened in the stadium."

"Stay right there."

The siblings sighed as they heard a familiar voice behind them growl threateningly, they turned around and saw the infuriated face of Brock glaring at them. They really weren't in the mood for any drama today and were tempted to just leave but they were curious to see what Brock wanted.

"What do you want Slate?" Paige asked.

"I'm here to make Thanatos pay for what he said the other day. You had no right to say that about us."

"Considering what you and Miss Waterflower did to Ash five years ago, can you really judge anyone on what they say?" Ash retorted.

That comment clearly took the wind out of Brock's sails and he immediately fell silent, Ash and Paige saw his shoulders slump as he turned his gaze to the ground.

"Probably not, no but I can't stand by and do nothing when someone speaks about Ash like that."

"Very well but I recommend you think about what you're doing here. I assume you heard about what I did to Agatha, now if she couldn't beat me what hope do you have?"

"I know that there's a good chance I'm completely outmatched by you but Ash wouldn't have backed down and neither will I."

Ash could feel his anger rise as Brock kept talking as if he knew him, he had no right to do that after what he did. Paige could sense Ash starting to snap due to what Brock was saying so she immediately wrapped her arms around Ash, hugging him as tightly as she could. The red haze quickly faded and Ash looked down at Paige gratefully, the last thing he wanted was to bring any attention to them. He briefly returned her embrace and then turned his attention back to Brock.

"Fine Brock you asked for this, Froslass you're up."

The ice type nodded with a smirk on her face, ever since she'd since Pikachu crush that Gengar she'd been itching for a battle. She floated off Ash's shoulder and levitated in front of him, she knew that this wasn't going to be a tough battle but she was still excited to get a shot at one of the treacherous scum.

"Go Steelix, use Iron Tail!"

"Dodge it."

In a flash of light Steelix appeared and he immediately began swinging his massive metallic tail at Froslass who causally dodged the attack and watched as Steelix's tail slammed into the ground creating a small crater. She then turned her gaze to Steelix and smirked at him which enraged the metallic snake who started wildly swinging his tail at Froslass in an attempt to wipe the smug look off her face.

"That Froslass can't dodge forever, keep trying Steelix."

"Give Steelix a pat on the head for his efforts."

Froslass dodged another Iron Tail and levitated up to Steelix's head, she avoided the Crunch he aimed at her and landed on his head. The steel type then started to roar angrily as he felt Froslass patronisingly pat him on the head, he tried shaking his head to shake the ice type off but it didn't succeed. His rage then got the better of him and he aimed an Iron Tail straight down on Froslass who was still sat on his head. As the shadow of Steelix's tail loomed over Froslass she grinned and then launched herself off the steel types head. Without Froslass in the way the full force of Steelix's Iron Tail slammed down on his head and drove him to the ground.

"Steelix!"

"Froslass freeze its head and tail to the ground."

A crystal orb formed between Froslass' hands and she fired several light blue beams from it at Steelix. The first hit the steel types head, freezing its head to the ground in a very uncomfortable position. Steelix tried using his tail to free himself but was stopped by the second Ice Beam hitting his tail and attaching it to the ground. Steelix flailed helpless in a futile attempt to free himself from his current position. He roared angrily again as he couldn't free himself, his roars were cut off by a third Ice Beam freezing his jaw shut.

"Now rapid-fire Shadow Ball."

The blue orb between Froslass' hands vanished and was replaced by an inky black orb which was then fired at Steelix. The orb slammed into the steel type and it let out a muffled roar of pain, his roars continued as he was bombarded by a barrage of Shadow Balls. Ash watched the scene and began to feel sorry for Steelix and he started to wonder why Brock hadn't given this fight up. It was obvious that there was nothing Steelix could do so there was no reason this fight should continue.

"Flash Cannon!" another familiar voice yelled from behind Ash.

"Pikachu, block it with Iron Tail."

Pikachu immediately leapt off Ash shoulder and launched himself towards the steel attack that was aimed at Froslass' back. When he got close to the attack his tail turned metallic and he swung it at the silver beam which sent the attack slamming into the ground below them. Froslass then caught Pikachu on her back and started to float towards the ground, Pikachu leapt off her back when they were near the ground and he gave Froslass a grin as she gave him a grateful nod.

"Sneak attacks are very cowardly miss Waterflower."

Misty growled angrily as Thanatos' words sunk in, she hated this guy with all of her being. As much as she wanted to run over to him and punch him for what he said about the people who did actually care about Ash and felt remorse for their actions like herself and Brock, she knew that doing so would solve nothing. So, she quickly made her way over to Brock and used Starmie to free Steelix from his ice prison. Both Pokémon then squared up to Pikachu and Froslass getting into a battle stance, ready to annihilate them.

"Starmie use Hydro Pump."

"Steelix use Rock Throw."

"Froslass levitate yourself and Pikachu, then barrage them with Metallic Shadows!"

Steelix quickly gathered some of the loose rubble that had been made by his massive tail slamming the ground and launched them at Froslass. The stones were then accelerated by Starmie's Hydro Pump and both Brock and Misty were confident they were about to do some serious damage. However, they were swiftly proved wrong by Froslass who had hauled Pikachu onto her back and levitated above the attacks. The ice type then formed another inky black orb between her hands while Pikachu's tail once again turned metallic and he slammed it into the orb in Froslass' hands which added a metallic property to the attack and launched it at Steelix.

The orb slammed into Steelix and knocked the iron snake down, Starmie looked at its fallen teammate in concern so it didn't see the attack headed its way. Before Starmie could even try to react to the attack it crashed into its back and drove Starmie into Steelix making them both cry out in pain. The pair then looked up at their opponents they saw a collection of attacks all hurtling towards them. The orbs bombarded Steelix and Starmie causing them to once again cry out in pain as they were shrouded in a dust storm.

When the barrage finally ended everyone watched where Starmie and Steelix had been, waiting for the dust to settle and reveal them. When Steelix and Starmie where finally visible again Ash was shocked to see that somehow, they had endured the attacks although they were clearly in a lot of pain and only just staying conscious.

"Alright guys it's time to end this, Pikachu charge up a Thunder and Froslass prepare a Blizzard."

"Wait! I give up, Steelix is done." Brock suddenly announced.

"Brock!" Misty yelled in disbelief.

Brock turned his gaze to Misty and shook his head sadly, he didn't want to give Thanatos the satisfaction of winning but it was clear that they were outclassed. He knew that carrying on would do nothing but hurt their Pokémon.

"It's over Misty, that guy is way too strong for us. If we keep battling, we'll just get our Pokémon hurt."

"Mr Slate is correct. So, I suggest you follow his lead and surrender miss Waterflower. I'll give you five seconds to choose, once those have expired Pikachu will launch his attack and I'd rather not severely injure your Starmie."

Misty growled angrily at the hooded man, she hated the fact that they been so easily beaten and she didn't want to let this guy win. She took another look at Starmie and let a resigned sigh as it was clear that Starmie would be seriously injured if it kept fighting. She reluctantly held Starmie's Pokéball out and returned it, glaring at the hooded man.

"Fine I surrender too."

"Good decision Miss Waterflower, now stay out of my way or else."

Ash and Paige turned away from the traitors and started walking away before they could respond. Misty and Brock were completely demoralised as they watched the siblings walk away, they had been so desperate to make Thanatos pay but it was obvious that they weren't going to get the vengeance they desperately desired. The pair eventually tore their gaze away from the shrinking figures and decided to try and find some other way to make sure Thanatos got what he deserved.

* * *

Meanwhile Ash and Paige were walking down the road towards Scott's home with satisfied looks on their faces, they had enjoyed crushing the two traitors and while they had at first been irritated by their appearance they were now quite glad that they got to the chance to demoralise them. Paige suddenly laced her fingers with Ash's, making him look down at their linked hands. A tender smile formed on his face as he saw the radiant smile she was giving him. He gave her hand a squeeze which she returned and they continued their journey.

"That was so awesome, you completely dominated them and they looked so crushed afterwards."

"Yeah, I have to admit I enjoyed that."

"Do you think they'll stay out of our way for the rest of the tournament?"

"I'm not sure but it doesn't matter either way, if they do come back I'll just crush them again. Right guys."

Pikachu and Froslass cheered in agreement and were hoping that they'd get another chance to demolish the rest of the traitors. Suddenly the peace of the group was shattered by a couple of obnoxious voices yelling in the nearby woods.

"You're nothing but a worthless dog."

"And you are the biggest coward I've ever met."

Ash and Paige immediately headed towards the voices, it was obvious that some Pokémon were being mistreated and they couldn't ignore it and carry on. They didn't have to travel far to find the people who were glaring and yelling at two Pokémon who were both slowly backing away from the trainers with terrified looks on their faces.

The first Pokémon was a quadruped, canine Pokémon. It had primarily light brown with a darker brown muzzle, paws, and ear tips. It had large blue eyes, button ears, a short muzzle with a triangular pink nose, and a short tuft of fur on each cheek. Around its neck was a ruff of greyish-white fur stubbed with dark brown pebbles. The dark brown markings on its paws extend to a thin point on each wrist and ankle. It had a greyish-white tail that curls tightly over its back and is covered in fluffy fur.

The second Pokémon was a small, arthropod Pokémon. Its main body was purple and was covered by silver plating across its back. It had four plates total. The first plate covered half of its head, but left room for its eyes. The upper lids for its eyes appeared to be covered with additional plating. The three plates on its back overlap, and each had a single black triangle in the middle. It had a long spike on each side of its head that curved backward, large yellow eyes with two short extensions over them like eyelashes, and two flat antennae that extend over its back. There were four short legs on its underside, and it has a long, prickly tail.

"Hey, leave those Pokémon alone!" Paige yelled.

The humans turned their gaze to Ash and Paige and glared at the hooded people who had interrupted them.

"Stay out of this brat, they're our Pokémon so we'll treat them how we like."

"There is no excuse for treating Pokémon like that." Ash replied.

"You know what if you care about these weaklings you can take them!"

Both men then kicked their Pokémon sending them flying towards a nearby tree, both shut their eyes and braced themselves for the pain when they hit the tree however the pain never came. They opened their eyes and were shocked to see that they'd been caught by the hooded people. Ash and Paige turned their attention from the Wimpod and Rockruff in their arms to glare at the two trainers but they were already gone. The siblings growled angrily but quickly stopped when they heard the Pokémon in their arms whimper. Ash hugged Wimpod while Paige hugged Rockruff and they smiled as the Pokémon almost instantly calmed down. Paige then started to giggle as Rockruff licked her affectionately.

"It's okay boy, you're free now." Paige whispered

"They can't hurt either of you anymore. They'll pay someday I swear it, now you two should get out of here and enjoy your freedom." Ash added.

Ash and Paige placed gave two Pokémon one more hug, they then placed on the ground and started walking away. Rockruff and Wimpod exchanged a look and with a nod they chased after the two hooded figures who had saved them. They quickly caught up with them and moved in front of the pair, Rockruff begin nuzzling Paige's legs while Wimpod did the same to Ash.

"Do you two want to come with us?" Paige asked.

The Pokémon nodded to confirm Ash and Paige suspicions, the siblings gladly picked the pair up and held them to their chests, they smiled happily as their family had just grown by two.

"Come on let's go back to our temporary home, we need to find out a bit more about these two." Ash suggested.

Everyone cheered in agreement and they started walking down the road to Scott's house. Wimpod and Rockruff settled into their new trainers' arms and quickly fell into the first peaceful sleep they had had in a very long time. Ash and Paige looked down at their new additions to the family and were glad that they had save them from their despicable trainers.

* * *

Half an hour later Ash and Paige reached their temporary home, as the front door creaked open both the Pokémon resting in their arms woke up. It saddened Ash and Paige when they saw both Pokémon stiffen and look around fearfully, it made them both wonder just how much Rockruff and Wimpod had suffered with their old trainers. They turned the two Pokémon so they were facing them and were relieved to see both start to calm down when they locked eyes with them.

"Don't worry you're safe." Paige whispered.

Wimpod and Rockruff were completely calmed by Paige soothing voice and they nuzzled their new trainers. Ash and Paige smiled down at the pair and then carried them through to the lounge where the pc was set up. They sat down in front of the pc and booted it up hoping that the online Pokédex, could shed some light on the new Pokémon that had joined their extended family. Everyone watched the screen intently as Ash scrolled through all the known Pokémon before he finally came to an image of Rockruff

"Rockruff the Puppy Pokémon, it's considered to be a good Pokémon for beginners because of its friendliness, but its disposition grows rougher as it grows up."

Ash had to admit he was slightly worried by the end of the Pokédex entry, the last thing he wanted was for Paige to have a Pokémon that could grow up to be dangerous. However, he could tell from the short time Paige had spent with Rockruff that there was nothing to worry about. There was no doubt in his mind that Rockruff would never do anything to hurt his sister. Ash then decided it was time to look up the Pokémon he had gained.

"Wimpod the Turn Tail Pokémon, this Pokémon is a coward. As it desperately dashes off, the flailing of its many legs leaves a sparkling clean path in its wake."

Ash and Paige stared at the screen in utter shock, neither of them had expected to hear such a derogatory Pokédex entry. They quickly turned their attention to Wimpod who was looking at the screen with a heartbroken look on his face. Ash picked up the crushed Pokémon and hugged him hoping to brighten his spirits.

"Hey, don't look so down, we don't care about what that Pokédex entry says." Ash said hoping it would bolster Wimpod.

"Yeah we couldn't care less about what they say especially then they say something so mean." Paige said.

"I just can't believe the Professor's thought that this was an acceptable Pokédex entry." Ash added in disbelief.

Wimpod was overwhelmed that his new trainer, no new family was so supportive of him. It was clear by the honest in their voices that they were both serious and meant every word they had said. He squirmed out of Ash's arms and using his tail he clicked on the mouse which opened the next Pokédex entry. Ash and Paige stared at the new Pokémon on the screen completely in awe of it, neither had seen it and were wondering why Wimpod had changed the screen to this Pokémon.

"What's that?" Paige asked.

"I have no idea, let's see what the online Pokédex has to say."

"Golisopod the Hard Scale Pokémon and the evolved form of Wimpod. It battles skilfully with its six arms and with a flashing slash of its giant sharp claws, it cleaves seawater—or even air—right in two. However, most Golisopod spend most of their time peacefully meditating in caves deep beneath the sea."

"Wow, that's incredible, but listen Wimpod I don't want you to feel obliged to evolve. That's not how I train Pokémon. You are part of our family now and we don't force family members to do anything they don't want to."

While Ash's words reassured Wimpod's decision to join him, it didn't change his mind, he was determined to evolve and become a powerhouse for Ash. The only thing he had to decide now was when the right time to evolve would be, then an idea came to him but to make it work he needed Ash to take him to one of his matches.

* * *

Notes

Thank you all for reading this chapter, please leave a review below telling me what you liked and what I could improve on. I'm also willing to use any ideas you may have.


	8. A Tale Of Two Meetings

Hello guys, thank you for all the support thus far. I hope you'll continue to enjoy this story.

Big thanks to the following people who have left a review: Xerzo LotCN, thor94, OddEyesEmperor, RoseBloodmane, WotTheHeck, animecollector and Maerk Andrew.

In conversations unless otherwise stated this is how you can tell what kind of speech is being used.

'- Poké Speech

"- Human speech

 _"- Aura/Telepathy_

Without further ado let the chapter begin!

* * *

The following week went by in relative peace for Ash and Paige, they had stayed in their temporary home and to their surprise they hadn't been bothered by anyone. Sadly, for them all good things must come to an end and they were woken up by someone banging on the door. Ash groaned and reluctantly got up, he looked at Paige who had chosen to sleep in his bed every night and saw that she was trying to fake still being asleep. He nudged Paige who turned over and wrapped the quilt around her, Ash chuckled at her antics but he knew that Scott wasn't going to leave any time soon.

"Come on Paige, it's time to wake up."

"Don't wanna." Paige mumbled

"Trust me neither do I but Scott's not going to go away. I knew we were going to get disturbed by Scott sooner or later, I was just hoping that he'd just call or message rather than bang on the door. I tell you what you get a bit more rest and I'll see what he wants."

Paige mumbled a thanks to Ash and smiled as he pulled the covers over her and placed a small kiss on her forehead. A smile formed on Ash's face as he saw her peaceful face, he turned towards the door but before he could leave Paige reached out and grabbed his arm. Ash turned around to see what she wanted and was greeted by Paige sitting up and hugging him tightly.

"I love you Ash."

"I love you too Paige. Now go back to sleep."

Paige nodded and released her hold on Ash, she laid back down and pulled the covers over herself. Ash quietly walked away from Paige, gently closed the bedroom door behind him and headed downstairs towards the front door. As soon as he got there another loud chorus of bangs hit the door, he quickly unlocked the door and flung it open nearly getting hit in the face by Scott who was about to continue knocking.

"Would you stop banging on the Arceus damn door."

"Sorry Ash, but I needed to tell you that I've arranged a meeting with the Sinnoh officials this morning in just over an hours' time. Then after that I've arranged a meeting with the Hoenn officials and my Frontier Brains"

"Why the hell couldn't you have messaged me that?"

"Mainly because I wanted to know the mood you're in before I take you. I guess my overenthusiasm with my knocking didn't help did it?"

"No, it didn't. Just wait here and we'll be out as soon as we're ready."

"Very well."

Ash closed the door and locked it up, he considered going and waking up Paige but decided to let her sleep a bit longer. Instead he went and got showered, dressed and fed the Pokémon first which took him around twenty minutes to do. Then he went to his bedroom and nudged Paige who immediately turned to face him and appeared to be much more awake than before.

"So, what did Scott want?" Paige queried.

"Well as expected Scott came to tell us that there is a meeting in an hours' time."

"I'm not surprised, the only reason he speaks to us is so he can drag to some meeting. I guess I'd better get ready then."

"Yep, you better hurry though I let you sleep in a bit so get ready quick and your breakfast will be on the table."

Paige nodded and jumped out of bed, she headed towards the bathroom to get ready for what would be a long day. At the same time, Ash walked down the stairs and glanced out the sliding doors seeing all his Pokémon finish their breakfast. He stepped outside and walked towards them to tell them about Scott's planned meetings for today. Ash's Pokémon spotted him and approached him wondering who had been at the door and what they wanted.

"Alright everyone Scott just informed me that there's two meetings today. The first is with the Sinnoh members and the second is with the Hoenn and Battle Frontier members and I wanted to see if anyone would like to accompany us."

" _We're definitely coming with you. We want to be there just in case Brandon wants a fight."_ Celebi and Diancie immediately said.

'I'll come too, I'd be more than happy to teach Norman a lesson once again if he starts anything.' Sceptile added.

No one else was that bothered to come along yet, when the tournament started though that would be a different matter. Ash returned the trio who had decided to accompany him to day and he walked back into the house spotting Paige walking down the stairs. They both headed into the kitchen and Ash quickly got a couple of bowels of cereal for the two of them. The siblings quickly scarfed down their cereal, they placed their now empty bowels in the sink and walked into the hallway. They took their cloaks off the hooks and put them on, Pikachu, Froslass and Riolu then jumped onto their shoulders. Ash opened the front door and they were greeted by Scott leaning against his limousine.

"Are you both ready to go?" Scott asked.

"Yeah let's get this over with." Paige replied with a sigh.

Scott grinned and opened the door, the siblings reluctantly got in and sat on the backseat with Pikachu, Froslass and Riolu making sure there was no room for Scott nearby. The large man was now used to this behaviour and thought nothing of it as he sat in one of the open seats. The ride to the meeting place was spent in silence which Ash and Paige were grateful for, eventually the limousine came to a stop and Scott was the first one out. Ash and Paige followed Scott out of the limo and then into the building. Both were quite surprised at the rather grand hall Scott had decided to have these meeting as the last had been in a standard conference room. Ash and Paige took a seat and waited for all the members of the Sinnoh representatives to arrive.

* * *

Moments later Cynthia walked onto the room and immediately spotted Thanatos and his sister sat away from everyone else. Seeing this as another great opportunity to learn a bit about what Thanatos knew about Ash she cautiously sat down in the empty seat next to him. She didn't fail to notice the way Thanatos' Pikachu and Froslass had instantly fixed their attention on her and she knew that she needed to once again be careful with what she said.

"Good morning Thanatos, it would appear that we are together once again."

"So, it would seem. At least this time you don't look like you want to throttle me."

"Well last time I thought you hated people like me who do actually believed in Ash. Now that I know that the opposite is true I have no problem with you."

"Glad to hear that, the last thing I wanted was a vengeful Champion after me."

Cynthia smiled at how easily she was conversing with Thanatos, she was seriously considering discussing what she learned from her conversation with Sabrina but decided that this was neither the time nor the place. The only way Thanatos would talk about what Sabrina had told her was if they were in private so she decided to ask one of the question she'd wanted to the last time they met.

"You were with Ash after the incident, weren't you?"

At first Ash was surprised by Cynthia's declaration but when he gave it a second thought it wasn't that shocking, the way he had spoken about himself the last time they met had probably led her to make that conclusion. He pondered on what the best response was to give away as little as possible but also give her enough information to satisfy her.

"Yeah I was for a short time. We were both after Team Rocket at the time, our paths crossed and we decided to team up."

"Did Ash ever talk much about what happened or any plans he had."

"Not really, he gave me a basic version of what happened and apart from that he didn't say much beside giving out orders to his Pokémon."

"I'm not really surprised considering everything that happened to him. Well it appears Scott is ready to begin the meeting. We should talk again soon Thanatos."

Cynthia gave Thanatos a smile and then turned her attention to Scott, now fully focused on the upcoming meeting. She appreciated any information she could get from Thanatos and didn't want to risk losing the chance to find out what else he might know by overstepping a boundary unintentionally. The other Gym Leaders and her Elite four had started to arrive too which meant that Thanatos would probably not reveal any more information.

Meanwhile Ash and Paige sighed as the last of the representatives filed in and the start of another monotonous meeting began, by the time Scott had started his opening speech they had started to block him out. They really had no intention in listening to Scott drone on about the plans for the tournament.

* * *

After a couple of hours, the meeting mercifully came to an end and gradually all the Sinnoh representatives left the room. Ash and Paige were about to stand up to leave and have a short break but they were stopped by Scott. They glared at the large man who merely smirked and pointed at the door. The siblings turned their gaze to the door and weren't surprised to see that the Frontier Brains who entered the room and took their seats. As soon as they sat down every member of the Battle Frontier apart from Anabel staring at them. It was clear that it was a silent warning to the pair to make sure they didn't do anything to harm Anabel.

Ash and Paige groaned as they realised that they weren't even going to get a short break between meetings and prayed that the other attendees would arrive soon so they could get out of here as soon as possible. Their prayers were answered as the entire set of Hoenn Gym Leaders and their Elite four walked in and sat down. Ash and Paige paid no attention to any of them apart from Norman who had smirked at the pair and even given them a subtle approving nod.

Scott gathered up his notes and was about to begin the meeting when Brandon suddenly stood up.

"Wait a minute Scott before you start this meeting I just want Thanatos to know that despite what you've said to Cynthia I don't trust or believe you. If you do anything to hurt anyone you'll have me to answer to." Brandon said.

"Threatening my brother is a very bad idea." Paige stated.

Paige stood up and began glaring at the Pyramid King, Ash could see by the intensity in Paige's glare that she had really been angered by Brandon. Ash decided to step in before Paige did something she'd regret, he quickly took hold of one of her hands hoping it would calm her the same way it calmed him. He was glad to see her instantly relax and squeeze his hand, he turned his gaze to Brandon who was still staring at them with an emotionless expression.

"Listen Brandon I mean no harm to anyone here and if we are not provoked there will be no trouble."

"To be honest I don't see the problem with what Thanatos apparently said at the Kanto meeting anyway, everything he said was true. Nobody stood up for Ketchum after the event seven years ago but then again Ash didn't deserve to have anyone support him, he was nothing more than murderous terrorist who is now thankfully dead." Norman announced.

As soon as Norman said that Anabel shot up from her chair and ran out of the room with tears in her eyes. The rest of the Frontier Brains quickly chased after her, each throwing a glare at Norman who simply laughed at each of the Brains, clearly proud of what he had managed to do. Seeing Anabel so upset felt wrong to Ash, regardless of what happened five years ago, he still respected the Salon Maiden.

"You know Norman maybe you should spend more time worrying about those brats you call children rather than commenting on dead men. I mean just look at those kids of yours, Maxy there keeps complaining to the League any time he loses and your beloved daughter has become a total failure." Ash replied.

Norman stopped laughing and immediately turned his gaze to the hooded man who was mocking his children. He stood up and glared at the man hoping to intimidate him however it appeared that wasn't going to work.

"How dare you speak of my children like that, I demand an apology from you."

"Well there's no chance of you getting an apology so how do you suggest we settle this?"

"Let's settle it with a battle like men."

"Having battles with people seems to be a recurring theme for me whenever I come to one of Scott's events. I had intended to avoid fighting so I'll ask for Scott's opinion."

" _Seriously? You're going to let him decide?"_ Paige asked.

" _Not really, even if he says no I will but I'm pretty sure Scott will permit me to battle Norman."_

" _Why?"_

" _Because of Anabel's reaction, Scott won't let what Norman did to her slide."_

The trio turned their gaze to Scott who was staring at Norman, they could only guess that he was giving Norman a death stare beneath his sunglasses. After the longest pause, Scott's sights switched from Norman to Ash. He lifted his sunglasses and the siblings were surprised to see just how infuriated Scott was by what Norman had said.

"Go for it Thanatos, crush him." Scott growled.

"With pleasure, I'll see you outside Norman."

Ash and Paige left the room before Norman could answer and waited outside the building where there was an area suitable for battle. Not long after Norman walked out of the building and stood opposite the siblings with a smirk on his face. The Normal Gym Leader couldn't wait to teach this nobody a lesson so he pulled a Pokéball out of his pocket watching as Thanatos did the same.

"Slaking, teach this fool a lesson."

"Sceptile, it's battle time."

The lazy Pokémon appeared on the field first and yawned as he scratched his stomach, feigning having no interest in battle when he was in fact more than ready to fight. He looked at his opponent and was sure the lizard across from him was familiar, Slaking's eyes widened slightly as he realised when he'd seen this Pokémon last. Sceptile saw the realisation hit Slaking and smirked at the lazy Pokémon and just nodded confirming Slaking's suspicion.

"Let's end this quick, Slaking use Focus Punch."

"Really Norman? You're trying to hit an incredibly fast Pokémon with a slow move, I honestly thought you were better than that. Sceptile just dodge for now."

Slaking got to his feet and ran at Sceptile as his fists turned white, when he got close to the lizard he threw a fist forward but only hit thin air as Sceptile had already dashed out of the way. Slaking felt a tap on his shoulder and turned around coming face to face with a smirking Sceptile. The lazy Pokémon roared angrily and threw another punch at Sceptile who easily ducked underneath the strike. A flurry of punches was then thrown but Sceptile was able easily avoid them all.

"Anyone else getting flashbacks to my battle with Brock?"

Pikachu, Froslass, Riolu and Paige all nodded as it was an exact carbon copy of Froslass' battle with Steelix. They watched as Slaking started to sweat from exhaustion after trying so hard to hit Sceptile and after one more failed attack he stumble forward and landed hard on his hands and knees. Slaking tried desperately to regain his breath and using all his strength push himself up only to see Sceptile laid down napping. The combination of irritation and frustration made Slaking throw another punch at Sceptile however the lizard had rolled away from Slaking's attack and he ended up driving his fist into the ground.

"Stop dodging and fight you coward!"

"Okay you asked for it, Sceptile launch him into the air with Leaf Storm."

Sceptile got to his feet and a barrage of green leaves surrounded in a green aura appear around his tail. The leaves then flew at Slaking and surrounded the lazy Pokémon encircling him in a tornado of leaves. Norman looked smug, there was no way that Sceptile would be able to launch a Pokémon as heavy as his Slaking. His smugness faded as he gradually watched Slaking leave the ground, then with a smirk from Sceptile he stared in awe as Slaking was launched high into the sky.

"Alright send him back to the ground with Leaf Blade."

The blades on Sceptile's arms started to glow green and the lizard catapulted himself into the air, chasing after Slaking. He caught up to the large Pokémon in seconds and swung he arm down on Slaking sending him hurtling towards the ground. Sceptile didn't let up, he dived down at Slaking and hit him with a flurry of Leaf Blades creating a multitude of cuts on Slaking. The larger Pokémon roared in pain as a deep gash was created across his gut. The grass type then put all his strength into one final Leaf Blade which drove Slaking into the ground creating a small crater.

"Now let's show them a real Focus Punch

"Bad move Thanatos, now's your chance Slaking send him flying with you Focus Punch."

Sceptile nodded and aimed himself at Slaking who struggled to push himself to his feet and face his oncoming opponent. As their inevitable clash grew closer the fists of both Sceptile and Slaking glowed white. The larger Pokémon timed his attack to what he thought to be perfection and threw his fist at the approaching Sceptile confident that he would send the grass type crashing into the nearby buildings. That confidence was shatter though when Sceptile spun in mid-air to dodge the blow and then struck Slaking with his own Focus Punch which sent him flying towards Norman and he crashed down just in front of his trainer.

"Well we've had our fun, finish him with Solarbeam."

"Slaking I order you to get up now!"

Norman's orders were ignored by Slaking who was too exhausted to stand, the only thing he could do was form a weak Hyper Beam which he fired at Sceptile who swept the attack aside with a swing of his bladed arm. That took the last of Slaking's strength and he slumped over but neither Ash or Sceptile were done, the orbs on Sceptile's back glowed and a green orb formed in his mouth which was gradually increasing in power. Sceptile eventually launched a beam of light from the orb which slammed into Slaking and sent him flying into a nearby tree completely knocking Slaking out. Norman returned Slaking and glared at the hooded people stood across from him.

"You'll get what's coming to you someday."

"Sure Norman, you keep telling yourself that. Now go find your little failures and tell them how I kicked your worthless arse."

Norman scowled at Ash final time before he scuttled off leaving Ash, Scott and Paige alone. The former was brought into a hug by Paige, a small smile graced his face as he returned her embrace. Meanwhile Scott was watching the trio, he couldn't help but feel honoured that he could witness this softer side of Ash. However, that side of Ash quickly vanished once the hug broke and they turned their attention to Scott.

"Well battled Thanatos, it's a shame no one else got watch his crushing defeat."

"Yeah but hopefully I'll get a chance at the tournament, then an entire stadium and the millions watching on TV will see his decimation. That would be a great spectacle right Scott? It's just a shame that there's no way to influence who I would be drawn against isn't it Scott." Ash murmured in a hushed voice.

Scott hadn't been sure at first but by the end of Ash's statement it was obvious what the young man wanted him to do, the problem was rigging the tournament was a lot different to a simple practice day. The consequences were severe if he got caught and while part of him was screaming that he was breaking the rules enough with Ash participating under a fake identity, he couldn't deny that he wanted to see Norman humiliated in front of the world. Regardless of his desire to see Norman thrashed in front of the world it didn't feel like the risk was worth it unless he got something else in exchange.

"I'll make you a deal, you give me a way to get the evidence to prove your innocence and I'll make that match happen as soon as possible."

Ash thought over Scott's offer and while he had no interest in proving his innocence he found himself wanting to humiliate Norman for what he did to Anabel. He took out his pokenav and sent a message to Scott which brought a smile to the man's face as he saw a series of coordinates in the message.

"Very well Scott I agree to your terms. I have sent you coordinates to the locations of a few bases belonging to Team Rocket and Galactic that I didn't destroy. They should still be undiscovered as they were in very obscure locations."

"Alright then, thank you Thanatos. This may not mean anything to you but it will mean the world to some people. i promise I'll keep up my end of the bargain I'm sure you'll be having another encounter with Norman in the second round." Scott whispered.

"Good, oh and do me a favour and tell Anabel I hope she's okay after what Norman said to her in there and tell her I'm sorry for any distress I may have caused her. My comments at the Kanto meeting are the reason this came about so I feel a little responsible. I didn't like seeing Anabel so upset, I still have a deep amount of respect for her."

"Okay I'll tell her as soon as I see her, I'm sure she'll appreciate your words." Scott said.

"Thanks Scott."

"No, thank you Thanatos, I won't forget what you did just now for Anabel. I'll talk to you soon."

Scott turned on his heel and quickly walked away from Ash and Paige, heading back to the hotel his Frontier Brains were staying in eager to pass on Ash's message. The siblings watched Scott walk away and then decided to follow Scott's lead and head to the house he had allowed them to use for the tournament.

* * *

What none of them had know was that they were being watched by a certain psychic who had heard every word of their conversation. She hadn't imagined she would learn so much about Thanatos today, she had merely come to speak with the man after the Hoenn meeting and possibly learn a little more about him.

When she saw Anabel run out of the building in tears she had been tempted to go after her but when she saw the rest of Brains chase after her she decided to go with her original plan. She had to admit that the man was very impressive, he had embarrassed a strong gym leader both in battle and verbally and she had to stifle a small laugh as she heard him taunt the fool. The only thing that disappointed her was that he had ended it so quickly.

Her curiosity about the man had only heightened now that she knew he had been falsely accused of something just like Ash had. She watched the siblings walk away and then turned her focus to Scot who was slowly walking in the direction Anabel had ran off. She quickly followed after him intent on getting answers about Thanatos, what he'd been accused of and why Scott was so intent on proving his innocence. This was all getting too suspicious for Sabrina's liking and she was going to get to the bottom of this no matter what.

* * *

Notes

Thank you all for reading this chapter, please leave a review below telling me what you liked and what I could improve on. I'm also willing to use any ideas you may have.

Here's where a big change is, I didn't do much with Sabrina in the original and this time around that's going to change.


	9. Sneaky Sabrina

Hello guys, thank you for all the support thus far. I hope you'll continue to enjoy this story.

So a few of the fans of this story may have noticed that's it has been a little while since I last posted a chapter. I'd like to apologise for that and for not even giving you updates as to why I wasn't uploading new chapters. The last 6-8 months have been tough, and I simply haven't had any time or motivation to write

Also can you all do me a big favour and go check out a YouTube channel named RockinRobbo; he's a mate of mine and does a variety of content from Pokemon Soul Links to Dark Souls. I highly recommend his Noob's guide to Dark Souls if you really want a laugh. He's been a big help to me over the past few months and I want to help his channel grow since he is a great guy and deserves it.

In conversations unless otherwise stated this is how you can tell what kind of speech is being used.

'- Poké Speech

"- Human speech

 _"- Aura/Telepathy_

Without further ado let the chapter begin!

* * *

Oblivious to Sabrina following him Scott was walking along the path his Frontier Brains had taken to pursue Anabel. When he finally caught up with them his heart broke at the sight Greta hugging a sobbing Anabel. He sat next to Anabel and pulled the sobbing girl to him, trying to calm her down which gradually worked. Sabrina peeked out from behind a nearby building and she watched as Anabel looked up at Scott and gave him a sad smile that broke her heart.

"Anabel, I know you feel awful after what Norman said but if it makes you feel any better, Norman is licking his wounds as we speak." Scott said.

"What are talking about Scott?" Greta asked.

"Well after you all left Thanatos decided to rile up Norman."

"Why?" Brandon queried.

"There's two reasons, the first was what he said about Ash and the more important reason was well he respects Anabel and didn't like seeing her so upset. He told me he wanted to apologise to you as well. He was worried that he had contributed to upsetting you due to what he said at the Kanto meeting."

"He didn't do anything wrong, I wish I could thank him for his words and for defending Ash."

Scott smirked at the Salon Maiden and took out his Pokenav, he quickly changed the name of Ash's contact to Thanatos, so the others wouldn't know it's Ash and then called the number. The Pokenav started ringing and Anabel's eyes widened as Scott pushed the Pokenav in her hands, she desperately tried to give the device back, but Scott shook his head. She looked at him pleading for him to take it back, but Scott merely smiled at her in response.

"You wanted to thank him and here's your chance. You're not going to get a better one for a while."

"Scott please I... I don't know what to say to him."

A panicked look appeared on Anabel's face as she saw the call had been accepted, she shakily held the Pokenav up to her ear and tried to think of something to say but her mind was blank. Luckily for her Thanatos was not the kind of person who waited around for whoever called to get to the point, so he was the first to speak.

"Scott I'm really not in the mood right now."

"Um I… It's Anabel not Scott."

Ash sighed as he heard Anabel stutter the response to him, he felt guilty that he snapped at Anabel since she was probably still upset by what happened earlier with Norman. It was obvious that she was still shook up by what Norman had said in the meeting. A combination of guilt and sympathy filled Ash when he thought about Anabel, her empathic powers made her emotions much stronger, so she'd been put through a lot just, so he could take a cheap shot at Brock.

"I apologise for my response Miss Anabel, Scott was the only one who had this number, so I naturally assumed it would be him."

"That's okay Thanatos, I'm using his Pokenav. I just wanted to thank you for what you for the message Scott gave me from you and I wasn't honestly sure how else to contact you." Anabel replied feeling quite comfortable talking with Thanatos.

"Well I hope you're feeling better now and there's really no need to thank me. I only did what I thought was right."

Scott was reassured by Ash's words, it was another example to him of how the old Ash was still in there beneath the anger, bitterness and distrust. He just had to figure out how he could draw the old Ash out more and get him to eventually reunite with at least a few people who had always believed in him. The thoughts of Ash quickly vanished when he looked at Anabel and watched a smile gradually form on Anabel's face, a sight that had been incredibly rare since Ash's 'death'. Scott wasn't the only one to notice the smile as the rest of the Frontier Brains all saw it and were happy to see the youngest member of their little family smiling again.

"I am feeling better now thanks to you and well we're just going to have to disagree on the second part of your statement."

"I need to speak to Thanatos when you're done." Scott interrupted.

Anabel nodded even though she was disappointed to end her conversation with Thanatos which was strange as before the conversation she had dreaded speaking to him and now she just wanted to talk with him as much as possible. He had defended Ash when very few others had, and he had been much nicer to her than she had expected given what she had heard of him before. She vowed to herself that she would try to spend some time with him the next time she could.

"It looks like I need to cut this short as Scott wants to talk to you now, so I'll see you around Thanatos."

Before Ash could reply to Anabel he heard the phone switching hands and had to suppress a sigh at the fact that he would have to talk to Scott presumably about the next meeting he'd have to attend. He had hoped that he would at least get the rest of the day to himself before speaking with Scott again.

"Hello Thanatos, thanks again for what you did. I think I speak for every member of the Battle Frontier when I say thank you."

"It was my pleasure, so I guess you're going to tell me when you've rescheduled the meeting to."

"It's the complete opposite actually. I wanted to tell you that you won't need to come to any more meetings, you will be left alone until the beginning of the tournament."

"Awesome ten days with no disturbances!" Paige cheered.

"Wait, what's the catch?" Ash asked.

"There's no catch, after what you did to Norman I'm happy to leave you alone until the tournament starts."

"Really?" Ash replied still not totally convinced.

"Yes, there's no good reason for you to come to another meeting. However, you will still have to be in the V.I.P box for the first few rounds of the tournament and this time I don't want you walking out just because you want to chat with Tobias. Now go and enjoy your ten days of peace."

"Alright thanks Scott, I'll see you in ten days."

This time it was Scott who didn't get a chance to response as Ash hung up his Pokenav before he could even say bye. The smile on Scott's face grew as he thought about the progress made with Ash today, he hadn't gotten any closer to the young man himself, but more and more of the old Ash was getting through which gave Scott hope, something that he hadn't had a lot of in recent times.

* * *

Nearby Sabrina had been waiting patiently for the proper time to make her appearance and seeing that everything had calmed down Sabrina chose to make the others aware of her presence. She stepped out from behind the building and walked over to the members of the Battle Frontier. Anabel was the first to spot the psychic and waved at her, she had come to know Sabrina reasonably well since Ash's death since they had bonded at first over their common desire of helping Ash and later over their abilities.

"Hello Sabrina."

"Hello Anabel, it's nice to see you smiling again, you look so much more beautiful when you do."

The blood rushed to Anabel's cheeks and she buried her face in her hands to hide her embarrassment prompting the Frontier Brains, Scott and even Sabrina to laugh light heartedly at Anabel. Upon hearing the laughs Anabel looked up at them with a pout on her face, Greta quickly pulled the girl into a hug. Try as she might Anabel couldn't keep the pout on her face and smiled again, a sight that everyone was overjoyed to see.

"What are you doing here Sabrina?" Anabel asked.

"Well there is something I must speak with Scott about, it's urgent." Sabrina replied turning her gaze to the large man.

"Can't it wait Sabrina? I need to stay with Anabel."

"It's okay Scott, I'm fine now and Sabrina clearly has something important to discuss with you."

Scott could never bring himself to argue with Anabel, so he hugged her again and then focussed on Sabrina who was wearing a smile similar to Anabel's on her face. This surprised Scott as it was a look that didn't often appear on the psychic, she was known for her almost emotionless stare and for how well guarded she usually kept her emotions. It made Scott become a bit more curious about what Sabrina needed to talk to him about.

"Follow me Sabrina, we'll speak in my office.

"Very well Scott, lead the way."

With a nod Scott start to walk away followed closely by Sabrina who gave Anabel a small wave and then quickly started to walk alongside Scott prompting the larger man to look at her and see an intense look on her face. It was obvious to Scott that whatever Sabrina wished to speak to him about was extremely important, but he couldn't think of what it could be.

"So, what is it you wish to discuss with me Sabrina."

"It is about that man you seem so enamoured with, Thanatos. There are important matters we must discuss, and he is central to those topics."

"Hmm if that's the case then I think it would be best if we wait until my office, so we may speak in private then."

"I agree based on what I heard earlier."

Upon hearing Sabrina utter that Scott stopped in place and looked at Sabrina worriedly, he wasn't entirely sure on several of the things he had said during that conversation with Ash. The one thing that worried him most was whether or not he had used Ash's name. He gulped as he carefully considered his next words as they could be crucial.

"What did you hear?"

"I heard everything Scott, so I suggest that we move quickly. I don't like to be kept waiting."

Scott couldn't agree with Sabrina more, so he quickly started walking briskly towards his office with Sabrina close behind. After a quick walk through the maing building Scott and Sabrina entered Scott's office, the former sat behind his desk while the latter sat in the chair Ash had sat in when he had met Scott here while she studied the large man who was now rubbing his forehead as if trying to fight off a headache.

"Alright Sabrina you heard everything I spoke with Thanatos about so how can I help you?"

"First of all, what is he allegedly guilty of?"

"I-it's not my place to say Sabrina."

With that Sabrina stood up and slammed her hands on the table, her eyes glowed blue and Scott grunted as he was lifted up and lightly slammed into the wall. He ignored the slight discomfort he was feeling as a light switch was digging into his back and stared at Sabrina who was fixing him with a terrifying glare.

"Now you listen to me Scott, I heard the two of you talking after he defeated that fool Norman and I heard you make a deal with him, you rig the tournament and he gives you a way to prove his innocence. Now I want to know what he did and why you're so desperate to prove him innocent. That man knows something about Ash, in fact I think he knows a lot about him and he may be the key to me proving Ash's innocence."

It was clear to Scott that Sabrina was not going to take no for an answer, but he'd made a promise to Ash and he didn't want to shatter the small amount of trust the young man had in him. In the end he decided that it was in his best interest to comply with Sabrina's demands but only on his terms.

"Okay, okay Sabrina but what I'm about to tell you must stay between the two of us. You must promise to not reveal this to anyone unless I say otherwise."

"Do you really think you're in a position to be making demands?" Sabrina asked in an almost demonic voice.

"I'm sorry Sabrina but those are my terms."

For a moment Scott was worried that he'd made a mistake and a chill ran down his spine as he heard the psychic growl at him while her glare intensified. His fears vanished when he felt Sabrina release him, he managed to stop himself falling from the floor and after letting out a sigh of relief he shakily sat back down in his chair. He looked Sabrina in the eye as he thought about what he was about to say and the repercussions it could have. He took a moment to consider how he'd word his response and once he was sure of a way to word it properly he took a deep breath.

"Okay Sabrina, the truth is that Thanatos is a young man who I once knew. He was set up by the evil teams losing everything he had and forcing himself to go into exile. Since then he has been behind the destruction of Team Rocket and Team Galactic and has foiled the plans of poachers intending to kidnap families of rare Pokémon. He's an incredible man who has done so much for a world that he doesn't want to return to."

"This man sounds a lot like Ash."

"Yes, yes he does but… unfortunately he's not." Scott replied sadly. "Not anymore." Scott whispered to himself

The room fell eerily quiet, theirs head dropped slightly as the pair both thought about the Ash they had lost so long ago. After the brief silence Sabrina looked up again and Scott was looking her straight in the eyes wondering what she would say next.

"Well I wish to help you prove this man's innocence, as I said he may know something about Ash and maybe I can find something to prove Ash's innocence as well."

"I'm glad to hear that Sabrina. Here are the coordinates Thanatos gave me, there are very few people I'd trust more than you to complete this task."

"Thank you, I shall see what I can find."

Sabrina got up and in a flash of light her Alakazam had appeared and Teleported the pair away leaving Scott alone in his office. The large man sat down on his chair with a smug look on his face as he thought about the conversation he'd had with Sabrina. He'd promised Ash he wouldn't tell anyone about his identity, he never said he wouldn't point other people in the right direction. A chuckle escaped from him as he realised how easily he'd managed to find a loophole in Ash's plans. He just wondered how long it would take to find the evidence they needed, he may have said the bases were intact, but Scott knew that Ash will have done some major damage to them.

Meanwhile completely oblivious to Scott and now Sabrina's search for information Ash and Paige had relaxed at their temporary home happy to be left alone until the start of the tournament.

* * *

Notes

I hope you all enjoyed this chapter.

Sabrina won't be finding out the truth too soon, it'd be way to easy if she found what she needed in the first place she checked.


	10. The Tournament Begins

Hello guys, thank you for all the support thus far. I hope you'll continue to enjoy this story.

In conversations unless otherwise stated this is how you can tell what kind of speech is being used.

'- Poké Speech

"- Human speech

 _"- Aura/Telepathy_

Without further ado let the chapter begin!

* * *

The next ten days flew by for everyone especially Ash and Paige and before they knew it the day of the tournament had arrived. Ash looked outside where he Pokémon had started their daily training and was amazed that Rockruff and Wimpod had quickly integrated with everyone and it was as if they'd been part of the family for years. Ash heard clattering behind him and saw Paige placing her plate and cutlery in the sink, he chuckled at the way she was so careful about it. She then walked over to Ash and hugged him as they watched the Pokémon training.

"So, today's the day where you begin your dominance of this tournament. Have you chosen who you're going to use in the first match?"

"Yep, I have and we're going to put on one hell of a show. Now you wait here while I get changed."

Paige nodded and reluctantly released her hold on Ash, she then watched Ash bolt up the stairs. A bemused look appeared on her face as she wondered why Ash was changing since he had already been wearing his normal cloak. Her confusion only intensified when he came downstairs in an outfit she'd never seen before.

"What's with the new outfit? You trying to be Ryu from Ninja Gaiden now?"

"Says the one who looks like an Assassin's Creed cosplayer."

Ash and Paige started laughing each-others reference, the siblings quickly calmed down and Paige once again looked at her brother in confusion.

"Seriously though why have you gone for this new look? And why is it armoured?" Paige asked sounding a little more worried with her second question.

"Well there's going to be camera's everywhere in the stadium and it'll just take one side shot of my face to reveal who I am and have the police after me. I sent a message to a friend who made this outfit for me. Wearing this covers my face so I don't have to worry about that. As for the armour, I'm just being cautious since there are still several evil teams running around out there. If something bad happens then I've got some protection. Is there something wrong with this new look?"

"No, I just liked it when we matched." Paige muttered.

Ash saw the pout forming on his sisters' face, so he crouched down and pulled his little sister into a tight hug. He pulled back slightly after a few moments and rested his forehead against hers. This was a common interaction between the two, it was simply another form of showing affection to one another.

"I'll see about getting a similar outfit made for you."

"Thank you, Ash."

"No problem, I'll message her as soon as possible about making you an outfit. Now we better get going before Scott starts calling wondering where we are."

Paige nodded in agreement and followed Ash as he walked out to where his Pokémon were and recalled the three he was taking to this battle. He then asked Pidgeot to fly them to the main stadium which she was more than happy to do. The siblings got on to Pidgeot back and she shot into the air, headed towards the Indigo Plateau stadium.

* * *

They arrived at the stadium a few minutes later, Ash thanked the faithful flying type and gave her permission to return to their temporary home. Pidgeot nodded and propelled herself into the air, disappearing in a few seconds. Ash and Paige walked into the stadium and brushed past anyone who got in there way, the pair didn't acknowledge any of them knowing that they were not worth the time or effort, so they just ignored the peoples annoyed yells. They got to the stairs leading up to the V.I.P box and quickly ascending them, spotting Scott was stood outside presumably waiting for Ash.

Their presumptions were right, Scott had been starting to think that Ash wasn't coming and was on the verge of driving home and dragging him here. That was something he hadn't wanted to do for several reasons, so he was relieved to see the siblings coming up the stairs. When he got a better view of Ash he was surprised to see the change of attire, but he quickly understood the decision. There were camera's everywhere, and people would do anything to reveal someone's identity which would be easy to do with just a hood. Whereas covering his face like he had pretty much guaranteed that no one would be finding out who he really is.

"Good morning Thanatos." Scott said as he offered his hand to Ash.

Ash nodded in response and shook Scott's hand, the large man then turned his attention to Paige who simply turned away, it was obvious that she still wasn't a fan of Scott which didn't surprise the larger man. He knew that ever since he had 'persuaded' Ash to attend these events he had immediately gotten into Paige's bad book which he was quickly realising was a bad move on his part. The young girl was clearly Ash's priority in life which meant getting to Ash would involve having Paige onside. This was something that would be nigh on impossible for him however there were others who might be able to at least be on good terms with the young girl.

"I was starting to worry you wouldn't show up."

"I made you a promise and I keep my promises." Ash said repeating what he said several days before.

"Well I'm glad you're here, please come inside, Charles is about to begin the opening ceremony."

The siblings nodded and followed Scott in, they quickly spotted a couple of vacant seats that were as far away from everyone else as possible and took a seat. Many of the people in the room started to murmur amongst themselves, some wondering why Thanatos had changed his attire while the majority debated on how strong Thanatos was since many believed that the stories of his dominating performances against Agatha, Brock and Misty were exaggerated.

One thing Ash had noticed as he looked around the room was that Sabrina was for some reason missing, he was curious for a moment wondering how she had managed to avoid being stuck in her but shrugged it off. The room suddenly went silent as they saw Charles pick up the microphone.

"Hello everyone, I am Charles Goodshow and I'd like to welcome you to the beginning of this Decennial Tournament of Legends. Here we will decide who is the greatest trainer in the world. As I'm sure you all know it is a great honour to be selected for this tournament and I hope everyone knows that there will be no such thing as an easy match in this tournament. Now every trainer will have three battles in the first round, the battle style will be randomly chosen before the match begins. If you win two of your matches you will advance to the next round where standard tournament elimination rules will be used. You are the best trainers in the world and this is your chance to prove it. Good luck to you all."

"Dear Arceus, he rambles." Ash groaned.

"He must love the sound of his own voice." Paige replied.

"Well someone has to I suppose."

The entire stadium began applauding Mr Goodshow while Ash and Paige had their private conversation. The old man waved around at the crowd and then sat down at the front of the V.I.P box. Ash, Paige, Pikachu, Riolu and Froslass all let out relieved sighs now that the old man had finished his speech. Suddenly Scott got up and took the microphone that Mr Goodshow had been using, he glanced at Ash and then turned his attention to the rest of the stadium. Ash had seen the look and was almost certain that he knew what it meant so he got up and left the V.I.P box with Paige just behind him.

"To kick this tournament off with a bang, the first battle will be between Derek Thompson and Thanatos."

Scott turned around to see the reaction of Ash but was surprised to see no trace of him, his sister or the Pokémon that had accompanied them. He looked out the window and saw them walking down the steps towards the stadium. He turned his attention back to the people in the V.I.P box who were all staring at him, some had looks of confusion, others looked angered by the mention of the young man and a few just kept a blank expression.

"Scott why did you decide to put Thanatos in the first match of the tournament?" Mr Goodshow asked.

"Well people have been questioning my choice to choose Thanatos as my wild card representative for the tournament, so I just thought it would be interesting for everyone to see what the unknown can do."

Everyone turned their attentions back to the battlefield interested to see how he will do in the first match of the tournament. Most of them hoped he would face a crushing defeat as punishment for his actions thus far while some wanted to see Thanatos prove to the majority of people here just how wrong they are.

* * *

Meanwhile Ash and Paige continued their journey to the battlefield, when they got to the wall Ash leapt over the barrier and landed on the ground. Paige followed shortly after and landed safely in Ash's arms. She hugged Ash briefly after he put her down and then the siblings walked over to the bench behind Ash's trainer box. Paige sat down to watch Ash who looked at the Pokémon sat on his shoulders.

"Pikachu, Froslass stay here and keep her safe. You have permission to act as you see fit if there appears to be any kind of danger."

Both Pokémon nodded and sat either side of Paige immediately looking out for any potential threats, Ash gave them a grateful nod and then headed to his trainer box. He stared at his opponent stood opposite him while he waited for the referee to declare what the rules for the match were. Everyone watched the electronic board to see what the random generator would decide and were disappointed to see it was just a standard battle.

"This will be a standard match which means that this is a three versus three battle. When one Pokémon faints both trainers must switch Pokémon, the first trainer to lose all three of their Pokémon loses. Thanatos will choose his Pokémon first." The referee declared.

Ash wasn't bothered about picking first, it didn't matter either way, he was going to crush the guy he was against. He took the first Pokéball he'd brought with him and threw it towards the battlefield

"Ampharos battle time."

The electric type burst out of the ball and released some sparks as a warm up, it had been a while since she had battled someone new and she was really looking forward to it. Derek smirked at the sight of the sheep, he watched as a little electricity crackled from its body as it warmed up for the upcoming battle and felt extremely confident and was certain he had this first match in the bag.

"Go, Excadrill let's get a quick win."

The mole appeared on the battlefield and felt confidence surge through him at the sight of his opponent, he was sure that with his type advantage this would be an easy win for him.

"It'll take a lot more that type advantage to beat my Ampharos."

"We'll see about that, Excadrill finish this quick with Earthquake."

"Magnet Rise." Ash whispered so only Ampharos heard.

Excadrill raised his arms above his head and with all his might he slammed them on the ground creating a shockwave that shook the stadium. Derek smirked as he felt the battlefield shake and was certain he'd see a badly damaged Ampharos or maybe even a fainted Ampharos if he was lucky. He looked up but was shocked to find the battlefield devoid of any other Pokémon, he spun around trying to spot the sheep but could see her anywhere. Excadrill glanced back at his trainer and saw he was looking in the air above them, the ground type followed his line of sight and growled as he saw Ampharos waving at him.

"What? How is that possible?" Derek asked in shock.

"It's called Magnet Rise, it creates a platform of electricity which allows her to dodge nasty little moves like Earthquake." Ash replied.

"Well I don't need Earthquake to beat you. Excadrill use Focus Blast, knock that sheep out of the sky."

"Send it back with Fire Punch."

Excadrill put his hands together and formed a blue orb between them, he then launched it at Ampharos who was still standing on her electric platform. The electric type watched the orb rocket towards her and merely smirked, everyone watched as Ampharos made no move, her arms hung by her side. Seconds before the orb was about to hit Ampharos her right arm was engulfed in flames and she punched the orb straight back at Excadrill. The now flaming orb shot back at Excadrill and slammed into him before he could anything about it, the power of the attack drove Excadrill back and he grunted in pain.

"Ampharos use Brick Break, then throw Excadrill in the air and use Focus Blast."

Ampharos arm glowed white and she leapt off the cloud of electricity she was on, she aimed herself towards Excadrill with her arm raised ready to strike. The ground type looked up and watched as the electric type headed towards him, he tried with all his might to move his legs, but he was still weakened by the flaming Focus Blast he had taken moments before. Then in the blink of an eye Ampharos swung her arm downwards and it slammed on top of Excadrill making him let out a pained grunt as he fell to his knees.

Ampharos then grabbed the blade coming out of Excadrill's head, Derek smirked at the sight, he knew that there was no way that sheep would be able to lift his Excadrill let alone throw him in the air. The smirk quickly faded when he saw Ampharos not only lift his Pokémon off the ground but start to swing him around before finally releasing him and launching him into the air. Ampharos then formed a blue orb between her arms and launched it at Excadrill. The orb slammed into Excadrill creating a small explosion earning another pained grunt from the ground type.

"Finish him off with one more Fire Punch."

The electric type nodded and watched Excadrill start plummeting towards the ground. She judged where the ground type would land and flames suddenly engulfed Ampharos' arm again. She started running towards where Excadrill was going to land and threw her arm forward connecting with Excadrill's face sending the ground type flying into the stadium wall. Excadrill slammed into the wall and slumped to the ground unconscious.

The stadium was silent as everyone was astonished that Ampharos had so easily beaten a Pokémon that's she's weak to especially when she couldn't use her most powerful attacks. Ash smirked, proud that he and Ampharos had managed to silence the crowd. The referee was the first person to get over his shock and quickly got back to his job.

"Excadrill is unable to battle, trainers select your next Pokémon."

"Nice job Ampharos, you can go and sit with the others if you'd like."

The electric type nodded and walked over to the bench where the others were sat, she hugged Paige and then like Pikachu and Froslass went onto sentry duty. She knew that Ash was worried about someone attacking his loved ones while he was distracted so she was more than happy to help protect their family while he battled.

Back on the battlefield Derek was still in shock that he had lost so easily when he had a type advantage. It was obvious to him that this Thanatos was a powerful trainer, a smirk appeared on his face as his excitement grew. While most would have been intimidated by the power of the trainer across from him it only made him want to battle more.

"Meganium battle time."

"That's a powerful Ampharos you have there, let's see how your Meganium does. Go, Galvantula start with Bug Buzz."

"Meganium let's show everyone a real Earthquake."

The Pokémon appeared on the battlefield and the blue tufts on Galvantula's body immediately started to glow red. The tufts then started to vibrate, and red sound waves come out of them, creating a siren-like sound. Meganium blocked out the sounds to the best of her ability and slammed her feet down on the battlefield with as much force as she could. The tremors shook the very stadium and caused Galvantula to cry out in pain, the pain made him lose focus and his attack ended. The grass type shook her head to get rid of the ringing in her ears and stomped the ground again damaging the spider even more.

"Galvantula use Thunderbolt before she can use Earthquake again."

"Use your vines to push yourself in the air, then use Body Slam."

Sparks crackled around Galvantula's body and he shot a bolt of electricity at Meganium. He knew the attack wouldn't do that much damage but like his trainer he was hoping the attack would paralyse Meganium and make it easier for them to land some attacks. As the bolt neared her Meganium released her vines and used them to launch herself in the air dodging the Thunderbolt with ease. She then started to plummet towards the ground, aimed straight at Galvantula who's eyes widened in fear at the approaching grass type. He tried to move out of the way, but he had waited too long and was crushed under Meganium, he was buried in rubble as the ground beneath them collapsed.

"End it with Solarbeam."

The grass type nodded and kept the spider pinned beneath her as the petal around her neck started to glow and a green orb formed in her mouth. Galvantula could feel the power radiating from the orb and desperately tried to free himself but was unable to. Moments later Meganium leapt away from Galvantula and fired a beam from the green orb straight at the bug, the slammed into the spider knocking him out and driving him through the battlefield until he came to a stop in front of his trainer.

"Galvantula is unable to battle, trainers choose your final Pokémon."

Ash watched his opponent recall his Galvantula and then saw Meganium headed his way, he stroked the grass types head and asked her the same question he had asked Ampharos. The grass type shook her head and decided to stay by Ash's side instead making the man smile. Meganium smiled at her trainer and nuzzled his side affectionately, it was no secret that she loved her trainer deeply however she was no longer harbouring a crush on Ash. She had moved on from him to a certain Hoenn starter who had become her mate a long time ago and she now loved Ash like a brother. Ash hugged Meganium to his side and then turned his attention back to his opponent who had looked resigned to his fate but determined to fight to the end.

"You're the strongest trainer I've ever met Thanatos, I may not win but I'm not going down without a fight. Go, Emboar."

"Lucario battle time."

The fighting types appeared on the battleground, they stared each other down and smirked knowing that this would be fun. Emboar released some flames to try and intimidate his opponent while Lucario summoned his Aura to surround him in attempt to do the same. Neither Pokémon were affected by the others efforts and they were both impressed by their opponent.

"Emboar melt that jackal with Flamethrower."

"Defend with Bone Rush, then end this battle."

Everyone in the stadium was shocked by Thanatos' declaration and watched as Emboar shot a powerful burst of flames at Lucario. As the flames approached him, Lucario put his paws together and spread them apart, creating a light green bone of energy. He then spun the bone around which deflected the flames away in every direction, to the surprise of everyone spectating.

The Aura Pokémon then charged towards Emboar and struck the fire type in the stomach with the bone. The strength behind the attack made Emboar fall to his knees as he gasped for breath, everything went dark for the fire type moments later when he felt the bone slam into the back of his neck.

"Emboar is unable to battle, all three of Derek's Pokémon have been defeated which means the winner is Thanatos."

Ash and Derek thanked their Pokémon and then returned them, Ash expected to see his opponent leave the battlefield without a word, so he was surprised to see him walk over to him and extend his hand. Ash looked at the offered hand and shook his opponents hand which gained a loud cheer from the crowd.

"Thanks for the battle Thanatos. You're the strongest guy I've ever met, I don't think I could ever get anywhere near you power. Have you got any tips?

Ash considered just saying no and leaving but the boy in front of him reminded him so much of himself when he was just a kid before Cynthia decided to train him. So, he decided to give him the advice that most trainers could do with hearing.

"After this tournament go find yourself a secluded island where you can just train and live side by side with your Pokémon for a few months. You'll grow far stronger than you would by heading straight off to another region."

"Okay, thanks for the advice and good luck in the rest of tournament."

Ash nodded and turned away from the boy, he walked over to where his family was sat and hugged each of them. He then returned Ampharos, Meganium and Lucario while Pikachu and Froslass took their usual places on his shoulders. Ash could sense that once again something was wrong with his best friend but knew that asking him now would get the same response as always. He decided he'd push the subject with Pikachu later and led Paige down the tunnel and out of the stadium.

* * *

Once they were outside of the stadium reporters immediately swamped them and started barraging Ash with questions, the group all glared at the reporters which momentarily silenced them and made them take a step back in fear. One of the reporters finally regained his nerve and stepped forwards to once again question the mysterious trainer.

"Hello Thanatos, you're such a powerful trainer and yet no one has heard of you, why?"

"I prefer to stay out of the spotlight."

The reporters stayed silent hoping that the man would elaborate on his rather short response but were disappointed by the ensuing silence. They all glanced at one another confused at the silence and wondered how they could get more developed answers from the man.

"Did you know that after that display of dominance you have already garnered a lot of fans. The stadium is still erupting with chants for you."

"I really don't care, fans are fickle. In ten minutes' time, they'll be cheering for someone else. The only fan I care about is standing right by my side."

"Well that's an… interesting way to look at it."

Once again, the reporters were momentarily surprised by Thanatos' abrupt response to the statement and weren't quite sure what to ask next since they weren't getting particularly good responses. Suddenly one reporter pushed all the others out of the way and held his microphone out.

"Whilst we're on the topic of fans, some of them are wondering if there is a special lady in your life."

Paige, Pikachu and Froslass were all getting immensely irritated by the reporters and their probing questions, Ash on the other hand simply smirked at the reporters. He glanced to Froslass who was on his left shoulder and gave her a nod, the ghost type smirked back at Ash and slowly levitated off his shoulder. She turned her attention to the members of the media and a purple aura started to surround her. An unseen force suddenly made all of the reporters focus on Froslass, as they had no choice but to stare into Froslass' increasingly horrifying gaze they felt shivers run down their spines and many started to shake in fear. Moments later the reporters all heard voices whispering in their heads and with a scream they ran away, dropping their notepads, cameras and phones.

"Well that was effective, nice job Froslass." Ash said.

'Thanks Ash, happy to help.'

"I just hope that that will be enough to dissuade the media from pestering us anymore although I seriously doubt that'll happen."

"Yeah, I really wish people would just leave us alone."

"Don't worry Nemesis, after the tournament is over we can go home and only see people we want to."

Paige cheered happily and hugged Ash who quickly returned the embrace, the siblings then broke the hug and started walking towards Scott's home. The siblings carried on down the path until a hand clamped down on Ash's shoulder. He turned around ready to deal with some random reporter, he turned around and saw the large form of Scott stood behind them. Ash sighed in disappointment, he'd been hoping that he would escape but Scott had cut off any chance for that.

"You wait right there. You didn't really think you were getting out of here that easily now did you?" Scott asked.

"His Pokémon need healing, so we're going to the Pokémon Centre." Paige replied.

"A plausible excuse except for the fact that you were heading towards my home when the Pokémon Centre is in the opposite direction. Remember you made me a promise and I expect you to keep it."

Ash sighed again in resignation and reluctantly followed the larger man back into the stadium. Paige followed close behind him and at first, she grabbed Ash's right hand, lacing her fingers together with his, until he wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her to him. A soft sigh emanated from Paige and she gladly wrapped her arms around Ash, just enjoying being so close to her brother. The presence of both Paige and the Pokémon perched on his shoulders made Ash smile even though he knew that they were going to be stuck in the V.I.P room for a long time.

* * *

Notes

Hope you enjoyed this chapter.


	11. Important Update

Hi everyone,

So it's been a while since I last updated this story and for that, I apologise. The big issue has been the fact that I rather stupidily over complicated things for myself by trying to take the original version and force two more love interests into the story. This has caused the story - well at least the parts you haven't seen yet to be very inconsistent and to be honest poorly written as I tried to craft separate stories for Sabrina, Anabel and Cynthia so they could all be with Ash and have a good reason to be with him.

These problems led to me making this update and wondering what to do with the story from here. What does this mean for The Exiled One Returns? Well it's not the end but it will certainly be a new beginning, there are flaws in the story that really need addressing and not just the ones revolving around the love interests. The problems within the story have led me to consider completely removing from here and starting from fresh.

I would use the same concepts for the story and in time would probably bring back scenes from this. First though I would properly flesh out the events before the tournament, meeting the few people he trusts and probably even being with a love interest prior to the tournament so I wouldn't have to focus on building a romance up during the tournament.

And I already know I'm going to get hell for this from some of you because I've already started a rewrite, well I'm sorry but the fact of the matter is what I have done thus far is not good enough in my opinion and since I do this as a hobby I write this for my enjoyment. I want this to be as good as it can be and I only rewrite because I know I can do better.

I'd love to hear your thoughts on this, any suggestions for love interests (maybe someone a bit more obscure), storylines you'd like to see, any pokemon you'd like to see Ash catch etc.

Thank you for supporting The Exiled One Returns, I truly do appreciate each and every one of you who has taken the time to read this story. Special shoutouts to everyone who spent a few moments just leaving a review and/or giving me some ideas. Once again thank you all and I'll either talk to you soon or see you when the reboot is started.


End file.
